Heathrow Holiday Inn hotel ‘to be used as coronavirus quarantine centre’ as health officials prepare for more cases
A HOLIDAY INN near Heathrow Airport has been booked up to be used as a coronavirus quarantine centre, it has been reported.
The Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel hotel appears to be fully booked until March 17 as the government is deciding on whether to evacuate 74 Britons quarantined on the currently moored in Japan.
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Sources told the hotel has been block booked as a potential coronavirus quarantine zone for international visitors who develop the virus or for Brits who have been evacuated from overseas.
They stressed to the paper that there had not been any cases of coronavirus at the hotel which is not on airport property.
The Independent further reported that guests with bookings at the hotel have been moved to sister hotels.
A spokesman for InterContinental Hotels Group, which is the firm that operates the three-star hotel, told The Sun Online the Holiday Inn had been "block booked" and would not comment further because bookings are "private".
A spokeswoman from Public Health England told The Sun Online they would not comment on individual cases.
An NHS accommodation block at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, and a hotel and conference centre at Kent Hills Park in Milton Keynes have already been used to quarantine people who were evacuated from Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus.
It comes as the government is deciding on whether to evacuate the 74 Brits from the cruise liner in Japan - where at least 454 people have now tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.
A Number 10 spokesman said those on board were being contacted about the possibility of a repatriation flight.
"We sympathise with all those caught up in this extremely difficult situation," the spokesman said.
"The Foreign Office is in contact with all British people on the Diamond Princess, including to establish interest in a possible repatriation flight.
"We are urgently considering all options to guarantee the health and safety of those on board."
More than 71,000 people have now caught the coronavirus around the world and 1,775 have died.
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Nine people have been diagnosed in the UK, one of whom is still in isolation.
Yesterday, the US charted two flights to bring home 340 of its citizens as authorities from Canada, Hong Kong and Australia, have said they are organising flights to remove people from the ship.
The Japanese Health Ministry confirmed today that 99 more people on board have been diagnosed with the virus.
Athletes held in Travelodge
DOZENS of Tongan athletes evacuated from virus-hit China are staying in a Travelodge near Heathrow.
The 26 sports stars were stranded after their flights home were cancelled earlier this month.
Now they are self-isolating for 14 days at the budget hotel in Slough.
One local said: “It’s hard to believe they have been put in a busy hotel in a bustling town if they’re feared to have the virus.”
Meanwhile, the Government has block-booked the Holiday Inn Ariel next to Heathrow as a quarantine venue.