Masked, anxious ... and locked up in the drab block of nurses’ flats that’s their ‘jail’ for a fortnight
BRITONS evacuated from the Chinese city ravaged by the coronavirus spent their first full day on lockdown yesterday after being airlifted home.
Evacuees wearing masks were seen peering out of their quarantine centre – two NHS staff accommodation blocks – as police and security staff erected a ring of steel around their temporary home at Arrowe Park Hospital, in Wirral, Merseyside.
The 83 people, including children, are not in solitary confinement but will spend two weeks being monitored and looked after by an ‘army’ of medics and staff.
Matt Raw, one of those in quarantine, said that he and his family were ‘extremely glad’ to be there after a 40-hour journey back to Britain.
He said he, his wife and his mother were staying in a fourbedroom apartment, along with another woman and her daughter.
Mr Raw, from Knutsford, Cheshire, added: ‘We are allowed to have contact with anybody within the facility as long as we’re wearing face masks. We can go outside and get some fresh air. We can open the windows and get some fresh air. We’re being looked after to the absolute maximum that anyone can possibly expect.’
A team of medical staff will closely monitor their condition and any developing symptoms over the next 14 days.
Toys and Xbox consoles have been provided to help youngsters pass the time. Mr Raw said: ‘Every single thing we have asked for we get. There is an army of people here who are looking after us extremely well. They are running out and buying everything.
‘They’ve bought us televisions, radios. You name it.’ Officials stressed the evacuees will be kept separate from patients and the hospital will be running as usual. NHS staff who were living in the accommodation blocks have been moved to local hotels.
Arrowe Park is just a few miles from the Royal Liverpool Hospital which has a specialist unit for handling high consequence infectious diseases – one of several centres.
Last night it was reported that a further, unspecified number of coronavirus Wuhan refugees would arrive at Arrowe Park. It is thought they had been unable to make Thursday’s flight. While they do not have any symptoms,
they will be screened by public health experts on landing.
But many people living near Arrowe Park were furious that the authorities decided to house the evacuees in a built-up area.
The Wirral peninsula, with the River Mersey on one side and the Dee on the other, has a population of 320,000.
Mother-of-two Melissa Bridge, 23, said: ‘I live near the hospital. I’m really worried the virus could be brought here. I’m scared for my children.
‘Why have they brought them here? It’s not exactly in an isolated spot. They just want to dump them on Merseyside.’
But Ben Kavanagh, who had been working as a teacher in Wuhan, was delighted with his accommodation. Filming his arrival on social media, he said: ‘We were all worried. We had no idea what to expect.
‘We didn’t know if it would be an actual hospital but I think this is nurses accommodation. It’s lovely. It’ll definitely do for the next two weeks and that’s fantastic news.’
Mr Kavanagh, from Co Kildare, Ireland, showed viewers round his bedroom then walked down a corridor to a shared kitchen with food laid out on the table.
‘We’ve got a bit of bread, fruit and a lovely bag of water and apples,’ he said. ‘Hopefully everyone who came back on the plane is all good.’