Coronavirus – UK dad in quarantine and his wife & two kids in Majorca hospital after contact with coronavirus patient
A BRITISH family of four have been isolated inside a hospital on Majorca after the dad came into contact with a coronavirus sufferer.
Medics on the holiday island revealed the father has now been quarantined at the capital's main hospital Son Espases.
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His wife and two girls, aged seven and 10, have also been admitted to the same hospital in Palma following tests to see if they have the killer virus.
The ten-year-old girl has already tested positive for a common strain of flu, however the coronavirus results are due back in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Jordi Reina, Head of Virology at Son Espases Hospital confirmed all four Brits were in isolation, saying: “All have been placed in isolation in two rooms, with a parent and one of the children in each room.”
The admissions occurred after the unnamed dad, who lives in Majorca, went to the hospital on Thursday to inform medics he had been in contact with a person who had tested positive for the virus in France.
He is said to have been in France between January 25 and 29 before returning to Majorca by plane.
Spanish officials have said the passengers who were on the plane the British man took from France to Majorca will only be contacted if he tests positive for coronavirus.
The regional health authority confirmed in a statement the coronavirus emergency protocol had been activated.
It said: “The case under investigation affects four members of the same British family living in Majorca who have been examined by health professionals.
“The father went to Son Espases Hospital and the mother and children were subsequently transferred to the hospital for evaluation.
“The family have said they were in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus in France.
“The man has been quarantined and samples have been taken from all four to send them to a laboratory in Majadahonda in Madrid. They have all been admitted to hospital.”
Earlier this month Spain confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a German holidaymaker who remains in hospital on the Canary island of La Gomera.
Overnight it emerged an American citizen has died in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the coronavirus outbreak began.
The death toll now stands at more than 700. More than 34,000 people have been infected with the virus worldwide.