Second wave of Brits evacuated from China land in UK to be quarantined

An airplane carrying 11 people evacuated from the epicentre of the coronavirus has arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The passengers – made up of British nationals and family members – will now be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral, where they will spend 14 days in quarantine.

They were evacuated from the city of Wuhan, which has been on lockdown since the outbreak.

They will be joining 83 UK nationals who are in quarantine close to Arrow Park Hospital on Merseyside.

It came as Thai doctors say the use of anti-flu and AIDS drugs has been a success in treating coronavirus patients after using them on a Chinese woman with severe symptoms.

Two doctors from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok said at a briefing in Bangkok that improvements were seen in the 71-year-old woman 48 hours after administering the two groups of medications.

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  • Inside UK hospital where patients with suspected coronavirus are in quarantine

Before the plane set off, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said of the the latest evacuess: “They will go to the Arrowe Park facility and all of the protections, the support during the 14-day period, will be put in place.

"So they will be treated very well, and of course the reason we need to do that is on the one hand we want to get the UK nationals that want to leave China out, on the other hand we need to make sure we control and prevent the spread of the coronavirus because of the implications that that would have.”

The Government believe there may be around 30,000 British citizens in China.


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“We’ll do everything we can to make sure that those that still want to leave, give them the opportunity to do so,” the Foreign Secretary added.

The latest repatriation comes as the Government launched a public health campaign advising people how to slow the spread of the virus.

The number of coronavirus tests that have come back negative in the UK is now 264, the Department of Health said.

Brits with suspected coronavirus have given a unique insight into the hospital where they are staying in quarantine.

The rescued UK nationals were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral on Friday night and will be staying at the NHS facility for 14 days.

Footage sent to 5 news shows one of the patients talking about the bag of essentials they were given on arrival, Wales Online reports.

Speaking from inside the hospital, Matt Raw said: "There's a bag here containing various essentials we might need, underwear and things people might not have had time to pack.

"It's a perfectly nice room, we've got all the essentials we need. We do have a concierge here who is attending to our absolute every need. It's like staying in a hotel.

"Imagine the best hotel you've ever stayed in and the best service you could ever possibly imagine – these guys at the NHS wipe the floor with the lot of them.

"Anything we've asked for, TVs, hair dryers they go out and obtain them for us in a flash."

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