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STUDENT INFECTED
Coronavirus – York university student is one of two people infected with virus in UK as uni moves to quell ‘anxiety’
A YORK student is one of the two people infected with coronavirus as the university calls for calm amid "anxiety" on campus.
Yesterday it was confirmed two patients have been struck down with the killer bug after staying at a York hotel.
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The pair fell ill at the Staycity aparthotel in the city centre on Wednesday.
It is thought the student was staying there with their parents, who had flown in from China for last week's graduation ceremony.
A spokesperson for the hotel told the Sun Online: "Often when students’ parents come over to visit they stay in one of our apartments, the family together, which all have kitchens and cooking facilities.”
Today a University of York spokesman said: "Public Health England (PHE) have informed us that one of the two individuals to have tested positive for coronavirus is a student at the University of York.
"We understand this development will cause concern and anxiety among our students, staff, and the wider community.
It comes as...
- UK's first coronavirus victims remain in quarantine in Newcastle
- Rescue flight with 83 Brits landed at RAF Brize Norton from Wuhan yesteday afternoon
- Evacuees will be quarantined for two weeks in a Wirral hospital unit
- The death toll in China has reached 259 with nearly 12,000 cases - surpassing SARS infection in China
- The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak a global health emergency on an unprecedented scale
- The Foreign Office warned against "all but essential travel" to the country because of the virus outbreak
- British Airways suspended all flights to and from mainland China
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"PHE has advised us that the risk of infection being passed to others on campus is low. Current information from PHE suggests that the student did not come into contact with anybody on campus whilst they had symptoms, but investigations are ongoing to fully establish this.
"Our immediate concerns are for the affected student and family, along with the health and continued wellbeing of our staff, students and visitors."
The university has set up a helpline to field calls from panicked students and parents, while it also emerged the University of Derby is isolating students who have come back from Wuhan for 14 days.
British universities are very popular with Chinese families, with more than 120,000 students making the move over to the UK to study.
Professor Jurgen Haas, head of infection medicine at Edinburgh University, previously said he expected cases in the UK to rocket as international Chinese students flew to and from the country.
He said: “The situation will be pretty similar in pretty much all UK cities with a large number of Chinese students.
Dramatic video footage showed hazmat paramedics swooping on the York hotel after a man reported feeling unwell.
UK OUTBREAK
Despite this, the 220-bedroom hotel continued to take bookings, sparking grave fears more could be infected or come into contact with workers exposed to the deadly bug.
Last night, after the government kept the public in the dark for hours, Staycity aparthotel finally confirmed it was at the centre of the UK's outbreak - leaving guests furious they weren't told.
Official advice urges anyone who has come into close contact with coronavirus sufferers to "self-isolate" to prevent the infection spreading.
It confirms fears the government acted too late to prevent the crisis hitting Britain, only putting in travel restrictions several days after the outbreak worsened in China.
Official figures released this afternoon showed a total of 203 UK tests have concluded, of which 2 were found to be positive.
Last night two people were rushed to hospital by masked ambulance staff after falling ill at London Paddington station - sparking fears they were showing symptoms of the deadly bug.
York University’s Vice-Chancellor Charlie Jeffery's full statement
Mr Jeffery, addressing media outside the Uni’s Heslington Hall, said: “Our immediate concerns are for the affected student and family, along with the health and continued wellbeing of our students, staff, and the residents and visitors of our city.
”We understand this development will cause concern and anxiety.
“But I want to reassure our students, staff and the wider community, that we are working closely with the lead agency, Public Health England, and other agencies to manage this situation. We will continue to take direction from PHE.
“Public Health England has advised us that the risk of an infection being passed to others on campus is low.
“The University is open and will continue to operate normally. I want to reiterate to students, staff, parents and visitors that we are working with our partners across the city to ensure that York and the University remain a safe and welcoming place to live, work and visit.
“Let me say also that the University of York is very much an international community. We are home to students and staff from more than 140 countries.
"We are enormously proud that we are part of the city, and of the warm welcome given to all of our community by the city. At times like this we all - staff, students, and friends across the city - pull together and support one another.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and we will continue to provide as much advice, care and support as we can to anyone.”
A hotel spokesperson said: "We have now received confirmation that two guests staying in one of our apartments in York have been tested positive for the coronavirus.
"We have been advised by Public Health England that there is minimal ongoing risk of infection to either guests or staff, and as such our York property remains open for business."
They added the apartment has been thoroughly disinfected and PHE has been providing support.
The two patients are being treated by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in its specialist Airborne High Consequences Infectious Disease Centre (HCID).
Professor Sharon Peacock said PHE is contacting people who had close contact - defined as being within two metres of the infected person for 15 minutes - with the pair.
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Authorities are now desperately scrambling to contain the spiralling epidemic with fears almost 2,000 could be infected in the country.
The Department of Health confirmed they still need to check more than 400 people who arrived on direct flights from Wuhan earlier this month.
Yesterday they said 162 of the 1,466 people have already left the UK, while 760 are now outside of the bug's two-week incubation period.
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What is coronavirus and how to spot the symptoms?
Coronavirus is an airborne virus, spread in a similar way to colds and the flu.
The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing lung lesions.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough and fever, shortness of breath, chills and body aches.
It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.
The symptoms include:
- A runny nose
- Headache
- Cough and fever
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Body aches
In most cases, you won't know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as rhinovirus.
But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract (your windpipe and your lungs), it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.
There is no vaccine for coronavirus.
In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, SARS, infected more than 8,000 people in 37 countries before it was brought under control, killing 800 of those worldwide.
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