Coronavirus news – live: All Britons now told to leave China as death toll tops 425 and more than 20,000 infected globally
Follow latest updates as evacuated British nationals undergo 14-day quarantine
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.All British nationals have been urged to leave China due to the coronavirus outbreak, as the epidemic claimed more than 420 lives and infected more than 20,000 people globally.
Meanwhile, British officials are continuing attempts to trace 239 people who flew to the UK from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, before travel restrictions came into force.
Some 94 UK nationals have been evacuated from the city to Britain and are now undergoing 14 days in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.
Follow the latest updates
A 23-year-old British man who believes he has contracted the coronavirus is trapped alone in the locked-down city of Wuhan and fears he may be left behind by the British authorities.
Jamie Morris, from New Tredegar in south Wales, fears he may have contracted the virus at the end of November, before the mass outbreak prompted global media attention.
"They diagnosed me as having potential pneumonia but couldn't confirm it," he told the PA news agency. "I had all the symptoms, literally everything that has been said by the government, however it was before the virus was made public knowledge.
"There is a high possibility of it being so, but thanks to my high immune system, I managed to beat it back."
He said he had not been able to get on the flights back to the UK because he had recently given his passport to the Chinese government to lengthen his residency permit.
"The news of a British evacuation came very quickly, leaving many people who lived a fair distance from the airport unable to make the flight," Mr Morris said.
Uzbekistan has evacuated 250 people from China and will place them in quarantine when they arrive in Taskhent, the country's state airline has said.
Uzbekistan Airways said in a statement the passengers were being accompanied by doctors and specialists with protective equipment.
The Department of Health has said 414 people have tested negative for coronavirus as of Tuesday.
Two patients with the virus are still being treated in Newcastle.
A doctor who led the World Health Organisation's response to the 2002-03 Sars outbreak said it is too early to tell when the coronavirus will peak, but it appears the disease is still on the increase.
Dr David Heymann said the spike in China's caseload in recent days was partly attributable to the fact Chinese officials expanded their search to include milder cases, not only people with pneumonia.
He declined to predict whether the virus would ultimately cause a pandemic, or worldwide outbreak.
.
Heymann said as the new virus starts to spread beyond China, scientists will gain a much better understanding of the disease.
"What we will see is the clearer natural history of the disease," he said. "That will occur because all the contacts of people who have come into contact into these countries [where the virus has been exported] are being traced and watched very closely."
France's government has joined Britain in warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting all of its citizens leave while the virus is still spreading.
The Foreign Ministry issued the travel warning based on measures taken by Chinese authorities, and on "the evolution of the epidemic."
France has six confirmed cases of the virus and evacuated hundreds of people on two flights.
A passenger plane has been forced to land in Canada after a man falsely announcing to passengers he had coronavirus.
The man was arrested and charged with mischief after the flight from Toronto to Jamaica returned to the airport, police said.
Julie-Anne Broderick, a passenger on the plane, said she saw the man taking a selfie and announcing he had the virus.
"The flight attendants came, gave him a mask and gloves and just told him that he had to move to the back of the plane," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The captain then told passengers he thought the incident was a hoax but had to return to Toronto, she added.
Taiwan has escalated its war of words with Beijing by saying "vile" China was preventing the island from getting timely information about the coronavirus outbreak from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Taiwan is not a member of the WHO because of China's objections, with Beijing saying the island is a wayward Chinese province adequately represented in the organisation by China.
Joanne Ou, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, said Taiwan has received very limited information and has been unable to get it quickly.
"Although the virus is really serious, they are still using the 'one China' principle to impede Taiwan from taking part in the WHO's technical meetings," she said.
"Disease has no national boundaries," Ms Ou added. "Putting political considerations over people's health and safety, this, basically, is extremely vile."
Chinese-ruled Macau, the world's biggest gambling hub, has asked casino operators to close for two weeks to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
And in the latest major corporate hit, Hyundai Motor said it would gradually suspend production at South Korean factories because of supply chain disruptions.
A four-year-old Chinese girl has become the first of 10 patients in Malaysia to recover from the coronavirus, Malaysia's health chief says.
Detection tests were repeated twice and the results came back negative, said Health Ministry director general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
"She is now is good health and has been allowed to return home," he said.
The girl and her family would soon return to China with a health certificate issued by the hospital, a Chinese embassy spokesperson said.
Coronavirus-related tourism slump could cost US economy $10.3bn
There were 2.8 million Chinese visitors to the US in 2019, according to Oxford Economics, with some 15 per cent of those travelling for educational purposes.
Each spends an average of $6,000 per trip, excluding airfare and education costs, the firm says, leading them to estimate the outbreak will put a $10.3bn dent in the US economy, mostly in 2020.
Major US airlines have suspended flights from China, and the Trump administration is barring foreign visitors who have been to mainland China in the past fortnight.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments