UK families face being split up in coronavirus evacuation plans

British citizens trapped in the city at the epicentre of the fast-moving coronavirus outbreak have been told by the UK that their families must either stay put or split up if they do not all have British nationality.

Nick House, an English teacher from Sussex who has lived in Wuhan for 18 months, was told by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that he and his two children, aged nine and 12, would be evacuated if they were prepared to leave his Indonesian wife, Rika, behind.

"I am absolutely livid," he told The Telegraph. "I don't want to split my family up."

He said that the family had been staying in their house, barely leaving and washing their hands and clothes compulsively since the coronavirus - which has now killed more than 130 people and infected over 6,000 - was first identified.

The UK buckled to growing pressure earlier this week and announced that it would start to evacuate British nationals from Wuhan - between 200 and 300 are thought to be in the quarantined city, which is home to 11 million people.

But Nick, who asked for his surname not to be revealed, said that when he phoned the FCO he was asked "if I was prepared to leave my wife behind."

"We were told that [there] is a flight and people need to be at the airport at 5am tomorrow morning, [with] 15 kg luggage only.

"They said we could go to the airport but probably wouldn't be able to get my wife on the plane as she doesn't have a valid visa right now.

"I asked them, can't you issue an emergency one? But they had no empathy," he said, adding that he knew several other families facing a similar dilemma.

The FCO told The Telegraph in response that the situation was "complex" and they couldn't comment on individual cases.

Japan, the US, South Korea and France have also started to charter planes to repatriate citizens in Wuhan.

So too has Australia. Overnight the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said the government would help citizens leave Wuhan and the wide Hubei province.

He added that evacuees would then be quarantined in the Christmas Island immigration detention centre for up to 14 days - the incubation period for the virus.

But the mad dash to repatriate foreign nationals comes despite World Health Organization reassurance that it is unnecessary.

The agency's director general, who was in  Beijing for crisis talks with President Xi Jinping yesterday, said he did not support the evacuation of foreign nationals and was confident the country could contain the outbreak.

“We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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