HOTEL LOCKDOWN
Inside coronavirus quarantine centre where Brits will spend 14 days with Netflix & Primark underwear after final flight
THIS is the inside of the quarantine centre where 118 Brits will spend the next 14 days after being rescued from coronavirus-hit Wuhan.
The passengers were transferred from RAF Brize Norton to Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes - where they'll have access to Netflix and were handed Primark underwear.
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However, Brit Josh Skarratts remains stranded in the Chinese city at the centre of the virus's outbreak, as he was too hot after wearing two jackets for the final rescue flight home.
When officials in customs at Wuhan noted a spike in his temperature, he was barred from joining more than 200 evacuees flying to the UK.
The plane - the second and last to be chartered by the British Government - arrived at RAF Brize Norton before passengers in face masks were bundled onto buses to Milton Keynes.
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On the flight were 105 Brit nationals and their family members along with 95 European nationals. A team of 13 staff and medics was also on board.
The group is housed in Kents Hill Park, a conference centre and hotel in a desperate attempt to stop any spread of the killer virus.
The passengers were seen wearing face masks as they were ushered off the plane and onto waiting buses before finally arriving at their accommodation.
They were met by medics and supplies including clothes and toiletries.
Coronavirus has now claimed more lives than the 2003 SARS outbreak as the global death toll climbed to more than 800 yesterday.
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And fears the killer virus is spreading have continued as the fourth case in the UK was recorded today.
Today's flight the final plane to leave the Chinese city, which is the epicentre of the outbreak.
They were today welcomed to quarantine with a letter, recognising the 14 days were likely to be "challenging".
The ambulance service said the presence of the group in Milton Keynes, Bucks, does not present a risk to local people.
A spokesman said: "The local site has been chosen because it offers appropriate accommodation and other facilities for those coming back from Wuhan while they stay in Milton Keynes.
"It also allows their health to be regularly monitored and has the necessary medical facilities close at hand should they be required."
All staff working at the facility will wear appropriate protective equipment at all times, and follow strict infection and prevention control protocols.
The NHS said those at the hotel will have access to Netflix, the internet, magazines, books, baby equipment, kids' toys and games, mobile phones, and tablets for reading, and games.
The hotel has more than 70 meeting rooms and 300 double and twin bedrooms.
Fridges and microwaves are available in every room, along with food and drinks.
Brits who returned on a flight last month were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
The local site has been chosen because it offers appropriate accommodation and other facilities
Ambulance service
The man picked up the virus at a business conference in Singapore and then travelled to ski chalet in France where 11 people he came into contact with are now in hospital.
Meanwhile British honeymooner was taken to hospital after he and dozens of other passengers tested positive for the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is quarantined off Yokohama in Japan.
Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, said on Friday that he was being taken to hospital while his wife, Wendy, remained on board the ship.
There are 78 people with British passports - including crew - among the nearly 3,700 passengers and crew on the ship.
Princess Cruises said an additional 41 people, including Mr Steele, had tested positive for the virus on the Diamond Princess, taking the total number of cases to 61.
CRUISE SHIP CHAOS
The company said the quarantine on the ship was due to end on February 19, barring "unforeseen developments", and confirmed that all the affected guests were being taken to hospital.
There are no plans to fly anyone off the ship and back to the UK at the moment.
A separate ship in Hong Kong, the World Dream, has about 66 British passport holders on board. Nobody on that ship has tested positive.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown that the reported number of new cases has fallen over the past two days, which experts welcomed with caution.
There were roughly 3,900 new cases reported worldwide on February 5, 3,700 on February 6 and 3,200 on February 7 - the vast majority in China, WHO figures show.
How are the coronavirus patients being treated?
Currently, there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for the new coronavirus infection – known as 2019-nCoV.
Patients in England with the virus will be transferred to one of four High Consequences Infectious Diseases (HCID) units.
These include two in London - the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, where the third victim is understood to have been taken.
There are also two in the north of the country - Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Two other patients who tested positive for the virus last week in York are still being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.
Access to these units is restricted to a team of trained medical staff who are made to wear protective gowns, face maks, visors and gloves before they can enter.
In some cases, patients will have a specially-designed tent with a ventilator set up around their bed.
This allows staff to treat and feed them without having to physically touch them.
But experts warned it is not yet clear if this represents an actual fall in cases or whether the fall will prove sustainable.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that 620 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus as of 2pm Friday, with three cases confirmed.
It is understood that the third person in the UK to be diagnosed with coronavirus caught the illness in Singapore.
He is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to be the first UK national to contract the disease.
The man is thought to have been diagnosed in Brighton and was transferred to St Thomas' Hospital in London, where there is an infectious disease unit, on Thursday afternoon.
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Professor Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director, said the patient had called the NHS 111 service after becoming concerned.
"After a telephone assessment, they were advised to make their way to Royal Sussex County Hospital Brighton for testing," he said.
"Following a pre-arranged plan with the NHS they drove themselves to the hospital, were tested in isolation and away from public areas of the hospital, and returned home in isolation in their own car."
Two other patients, who had recently travelled from China, are still being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.
One is a student at the University of York, while the other is a family member.
Around 150 Brits being flown back from coronavirus-hit Wuhan will be quarantined in Milton Keynes for 14 days
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