Virus ship passengers test positive back in UK
Four cruise ship passengers flown back to the UK after being quarantined on a Japanese cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus.
The four, who had “no symptoms” of the disease when they boarded a repatriation flight on Saturday, have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres. It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 13.
British couple David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who were on the cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary, are still in a Japanese hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus and pneumonia.
It comes as cases in South Korea, Iran and Italy continue to rise.
Four cruise ship passengers flown to England this weekend have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 13.
The four have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres.
They had been among a group of 30 British nationals and two Irish citizens who arrived at a quarantine block at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside on Saturday.
England’s chief medical officer said the virus was passed on in the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had been held for more than two weeks off the coast of Japan. Professor Chris Whitty said: “Four further patients in England have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 13.
“The virus was passed on in the Diamond Princess cruise ship and the patients are being transferred from Arrowe Park to specialist NHS infection centres.”
The Department of Health said a “full infectious disease risk assessment” was done before Saturday’s repatriation flight and that no-one who boarded the plane had displayed any symptoms of the virus.
Any more passengers who test positive will immediately be taken into specialist NHS care, the department said.
It added that “appropriate arrangements” are in place at Arrowe Park, including strict separation of passengers from staff and from each other.
It is understood some British nationals who are part of the Diamond Princess crew opted to remain on the ship.
Almost one fifth of the 3,711 passengers originally on board the cruise liner have been infected.
Japan’s health ministry announced yesterday that one of the passengers taken to hospital after testing positive for the virus has died.
The death of the Japanese man aged in his eighties brings the number of fatalities from the Diamond Princess to three.
British couple David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who were on the cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary, are still in a Japanese hospital after being diagnosed with coronavirus and pneumonia.
Relatives said the couple are both “having a really tough time” and feel “very much in the dark” in terms of treatment, adding that they are awaiting further tests.
Their daughter-in-law Roberta Abel said: “We want to get them discharged from the hospital and back to the UK as negative.
“They are scared. They said to us today, ‘If we get that virus again, we are not coming home’.”
The development comes as 118 people were released from a coronavirus quarantine centre in Milton Keynes.
The group – who had been brought back to Britain earlier this month on a repatriation flight from Wuhan – spent 14 days at the Kents Hill Park training and conference centre.
They were allowed to leave yesterday, having all tested negative for the virus.
One of the group, which included around ten children and a family of four, said it was a “fantastic” feeling to be able to go home.
Paul Walkinshaw, from Manchester, left with his wife Lihong, having been on holiday visiting her parents in the city of Shiyan for the Chinese New Year when family members contacted them and told them about the virus outbreak.
Speaking to reporters as he exited the centre, he said: “It feels fantastic to leave, although it feels weird not having to wear a mask and gloves in public.
“The first 48 hours were hard when we were confined to our rooms, after that it was fine.”
The 39-year-old praised “friendly” staff and the local community for their support and said he was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed again.
Chinese president warns epidemic ‘still grim’ and calls for action on economy
Joe Mcdonald
Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned that the country’s virus epidemic is “still grim and complex”, and called for more efforts to halt the outbreak.
He also stressed the need to revive industry and prevent the spread of the disease from disrupting spring planting of crops.
Mr Xi defended the ruling Communist Party’s response as “timely and effective” in a video conference with officials in charge of antidisease work, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
But he sounded a note of caution in the face of hopes abroad that the disease that has killed more than 2,400 people since December might be being brought under control.
Mr Xi said the coronavirus
situation was at a “critical stage” and called on officials to “resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic”.
“The current epidemic situation is still grim and complex,” Xinhua cited Mr Xi as saying.
“Prevention and control are at the most critical stage.”
The ruling party is trying to strike a difficult balance between stopping the virus and reviving China’s vast manufacturing and other industries.
Most of the world’s secondlargest economy has been shut down since late January in the most sweeping anti-disease measures ever imposed and are only gradually reopening.
Forecasters say China might rebound quickly if the outbreak can be brought under control by the end of March.
But they warn that this quarter’s economic output will shrink by as much as 1 per cent from the quarter ending in December after Beijing extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep factories and offices closed and told the public to avoid travelling.
Concern is growing that the disease might be spreading in South Korea and other countries, instead of only affecting people who visited China and others who had close contact with them.
Mr Xi said the epidemic was a health emergency with the “fastest spread” and “most difficult prevention and control” in China since the Communist Party came to power in 1949, according to
Xinhua. “For us, this is a crisis and a big test,” Mr Xi was cited as saying.
The report made no mention of criticism from members of the public that officials delayed taking action against the disease and might be concealing details of its impact.
Mr Xi was cited as saying that “all work arrangements are timely” and the antidisease measures put in place were effective.
He said officials should help factories and other companies reopen and make sure low-income workers were employed.
The president said “low-risk areas” in China should adjust disease-control measures to “fully restore production”, while higher-risk areas should keep their focus on epidemic prevention.