We are working as a global force to tackle this epidemic

Last week, I visited Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia – some of the countries on the front line in the international fight to stop the spread of coronavirus. The virus may have emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but the realities of today’s world mean it could never have been confined to one city, one country or even one continent. So, while the Government is taking every measure to limit our exposure at home, the answer to tackling coronavirus will be co-operation abroad.

The coronavirus outbreak represents an unprecedented global health challenge. No single country can overcome, or fully defend against the threat that coronavirus presents. The international community must work together.

The UK has a key role to play in that international effort, and it was a privilege to be reappointed Foreign Secretary this week to take that work forward. We have world-leading medical expertise, an unparalleled diplomatic network and first-hand experience working with countries to overcome the greatest public health emergencies. And we are channelling this to support the responses by China, the World Health Organisation [WHO] and the international community.

Our initial focus has, of course, been helping those Britons who have found themselves at the greatest risk of exposure to the virus in Wuhan. Our crisis response team headquartered in the Foreign Office has been working around the clock with our teams in China and at embassies throughout the world to get our people home and into the care they need. They have been operating in the face of considerable barriers and challenges in a situation that is rapidly changing.

Of course, we’re not working alone. I am very grateful to the support of our international partners, including France and New Zealand, who provided seats on their planes for Britons seeking to leave Wuhan. In turn, we offered space on our flights to our friends and allies.

In the very week we left the EU, we helped 136 European nationals and their dependants return home – a sure sign of the co-operation we will continue with our European friends.

Looking ahead, the overriding international objective is to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and stop it turning into a global pandemic. This was at the forefront of my discussions with international counterparts this week. We need to work together to better understand the threat we face, and to determine the most effective action we can take.

China is at the epicentre of the struggle to stop the spread of the virus, and the UK is working to support its government. The planes that flew our people out of Wuhan also delivered crates of medical supplies to allow China’s doctors and nurses to continue to treat infected residents, and limit the spread of the infection.

The UK is a world leader in tackling global health issues, spending £6.5billion over the last five years. Thanks in part to the centre of excellence that is the NHS, British doctors have been at the centre of the response to every major disease outbreak around the world in recent decades, and coronavirus is no different.

The UK has donated £5million of UK aid in support of the World Health Organisation’s Flash Appeal. By helping developing countries most at risk to quickly identify cases and care for patients, we have a chance to confine the spread of the virus.

With that in mind, UK aid is helping the WHO to train rapid response teams and local emergency medics to help our partners in Asia and Africa build their capacity against the virus so they are better able to identify potential cases and isolate patients.

Meanwhile, the race is on to develop a vaccine to prevent contraction of coronavirus. The first recorded case of Covid-19 may only have been weeks ago, but the UK’s scientists have been preparing for a new virus outbreak for years. We were one of the first countries to develop a laboratory test for the virus.

The Government has also announced a new £40million investment into vaccine and virus research, a considerable part of which will go directly to efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

This is an emerging virus, and we are working to understand how it spreads and how to stop it. But thanks to the UK’s expertise, capability and co-operation with partners across the world, we are in the best possible place to manage the threat of coronavirus.

‘We have worldleading medical expertise, an unparalleled diplomatic network and first-hand experience to overcome the greatest public health emergencies’