Coronavirus: Evacuation flight for Britons in Wuhan cleared for take off

An evacuation flight to bring British nationals back to the UK from the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak will leave on Thursday night, the Foreign Secretary has said.

The flight is due to leave Wuhan city at 7am local time on Friday, which is 11pm on Thursday UK time.

In a statement, Dominic Raab said: “The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority.

“Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need.”

Speaking at a Policy Exchange event in Westminster earlier, Mr Raab said officials in the Foreign Office had “been working tirelessly” to get citizens out of Wuhan.

He added: “We’ve been working with the Department of Health flat out, 24/7, to try and make sure we can identify British nationals in Wuhan, get them to a muster point and get them to a flight, a chartered flight in and out.”

The flight, which will have military medics on board, will land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Passengers will then be taken to an NHS facility on the Wirral for a quarantine period of 14 days.

The Liverpool Echo reported they would be taken to a former student accommodation block in the grounds of Arrowe Park Hospital.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Hospital, sent a message to staff on Thursday evening, saying: “Around 100 British citizens will be travelling to the UK from China tomorrow.

“We will be welcoming and housing them in the accommodation block at Arrowe Park Hospital.

“Before arrival they will be screened for symptoms. If anyone becomes unwell after arrival they will be treated following appropriate protocols.”

It is understood passengers will have access to the internet and be able to make contact with family.

Fifty foreigners – mainly from EU countries – will also be on the evacuation flight which will head to Spain afterwards.

In an email letter to those boarding the flight, the Foreign Office said they should go to Tianhe Airport Expressway Toll Gate by no later than 1am local time on Friday.

“You must report to the assembly point for an initial health screening by the Chinese authorities and an initial registration check,” the email says.

“Before boarding, you will be required by the UK health authorities to sign a form consenting to 14 days’ supported isolation in the UK on your return here.

“Buses will be provided to take passengers from the muster point to the Emergency Handling Centre (EHC), in the airport, where UK passport checks and medical screening will take place.

“We cannot guarantee that dual nationals will be allowed to travel: this is in the hands of the Chinese authorities.

“They have also been clear that we cannot add additional passengers to the flight manifest at this point.”

Officials have been working to secure a flight out of Wuhan for British nationals after one planned for Thursday failed to get clearance from Chinese authorities.

The Government anticipates flying out UK citizens who have been in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

British nationals have been asked to make their own way to the airport, and it is understood the British Consulate has provided letters to help people in cars get past security checkpoints.

Passengers say they have been told only to take hand luggage on the flight.

Jeff Siddle, from Northumberland, told the BBC his family faced a “terrible dilemma” after he and his nine-year-old daughter were told they could fly back – but not his Chinese wife, who has a permanent residency visa for the UK.

It comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency committee could declare an international public health emergency during its meeting on Thursday.

The WHO has said the “whole world needs to be on alert” over the new coronavirus outbreak.

The number of cases of coronavirus has jumped to 7,711, with 170 deaths.

India confirmed its first case on Thursday, as did the Philippines.

In the UK, 161 people have tested negative for the virus as of Thursday.

Of 1,466 passengers and 95 staff who arrived in the UK from Wuhan between January 10 and 24, some 162 have already left the UK and 760 are now outside the 14-day incubation period for the virus.

Meanwhile, British Airways has extended its suspension of all flights to and from mainland China until Monday.

Virgin Atlantic flights between Heathrow and Shanghai are continuing to operate as scheduled.

Also on Thursday, an apartment-hotel in Yorkshire was put on lockdown after a man, believed to be a Chinese national, was taken to hospital after falling ill.

The man, who was a guest at the Staycity Hotel in the centre of York, was taken to hospital by medics on Wednesday night.