VIRUS TERROR HITS UK
Medic in hazmat suit on streets of Birmingham As Britons are warned NOT to fly to China
THE spreading menace of the deadly coronavirus was brought home yesterday as a medic in a hazmat suit was pictured on a suburban British street.
The incident in Harborne, Birmingham, emerged as Britons were urged not to go to China, where the virus has so far claimed 106 lives in the central Hubei province.
The unprecedented advice was issued by the Foreign Office last night as it advised against ‘all but essential travel’ to all of mainland China, the world’s most populous country.
Hundreds of thousands of Britons fly to China every year for holidays, business or to visit relatives. Eight flights are scheduled to take off from Heathrow today alone, including to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The dramatic moment in Birmingham happened on Monday after a resident who had been to China reported flu-like symptoms.
An ambulance was summoned on Monday for 39-year- old Drew Bennett, who flew from Wuhan – the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak – on December 31, nearly a month ago.
He is now in isolation at the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, having tests out of what is understood to be an abundance of caution.
Yesterday the Department of Health said there were still no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK despite 97 people being checked in the past week.
Mr Bennett, who works in sales, had been on holiday in Wuhan over Christmas and began feeling unwell shortly after his return.
He went to bed thinking he had ‘a bad case of the flu’ and on Monday this week went to see his GP with a separate issue.
The doctor asked if he had recently been to Wuhan and when
Mr Bennett replied that he had, was sent straight home. Footage on Twitter shows an ambulance arriving at the address with a patient in a facemask getting into the back of the ambulance.
He is followed into the ambulance by a public health worker dressed in a hazmat suit, short for ‘hazardous materials’, carrying a first aid kit.
Mr Bennett said: ‘I’m now in isolation and waiting to get my blood test results. I don’t feel particularly unwell now, but I’ve not been 100 per cent since returning from Wuhan. Since I got over the worst symptoms I’ve been back to work, shopping, just normal life. It’s a really worrying time.’
Pictures taken in east London also showed an ambulance being driven by a paramedic dressed in white protective gear, in scenes similar to those caught in the West Midlands. The London Ambulance
Service declined to comment on the pictures. The Department of Health and Social Care said it did not comment on individual cases.
Last night’s Foreign Office advice not to visit China – which does not apply to Hong Kong nor Macau – is unprecedented. A travel industry source said: ‘We can’t remember the last time a ban applied to a country as big as this, which is visited by so many British people.’
It means China is now just one notch down from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Syria in terms of
FCO advice, which says Britons should not to go to any of these countries at all.
In a separate intervention, Foreign Office officials are preparing to evacuate up to 300 British nationals from Wuhan. A charter flight is being prepared to repatriate anyone who wants to leave tomorrow although the precise logistics are still being confirmed.
But British citizens who wish to leave the country have been urged to contact the British consulate by 11am today, local time.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: ‘Due to the increasing travel restrictions and the public health situation, we now advise against all but essential travel to China.
‘We are also working urgently to finalise arrangements for an assisted departure from Hubei province for British nationals this week, and are in contact with people in Hubei to ensure they register their interest and that we can keep them updated.
‘The UK continues to be guided by the latest medical advice about the coronavirus outbreak. The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority.’
Yesterday Chinese officials announced that the number of confirmed cases of the virus had doubled overnight with 4,515 people infected in 16 countries.
The death toll has now climbed to 106 – although the true figure could be far higher – and all victims have come from Hubei.
But in a worrying development, Germany and Japan each confirmed one case where the disease had spread to people who had not visited Wuhan but had come into contact with someone who did.
Coronavirus, previously unknown to science, is believed to have emerged last month after ‘jumping the species barrier’ from snakes to humans. Symptoms start with a cough, temperature and sore throat and progress to breathing difficulties about a week later which sometimes develop into pneumonia.
‘It’s a really worrying time’ ‘Safety is our top priority’