Third UK coronavirus patient is 'first British national to contract disease'

The third person in the UK to be diagnosed with coronavirus caught the deadly illness in Singapore and is a British national, it is understood.

The patient tested positive in Brighton before being transferred to an infectious diseases unit at London’s St Thomas' Hospital.

He is a British businessman, believed to be in his 40s or 50s, it was reported.

It comes as the government issued new advice to travellers arriving in the UK from places worst affected by the virus, which has killed 565 worldwide.

Those who have arrived back from countries and territories including Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Macau and mainland China are being advised to self-isolate if they begin feeling unwell.

Medical staff members wearing protective clothing at a hospital in Wuhan, the coronavirus epicentre
AFP via Getty Images

Anyone arriving from these locations in the past fortnight should stay indoors and avoid contact with other people if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever or shortness of breath, the new advice warned.

News of the third UK patient came as two others were still being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said the patient was transferred to a specialist centre and “robust infection control measures” were in place.

Prof Whitty did not say who the patient was, but the Mail reported that he was a British national. This would make him the first Briton to be diagnosed with the deadly illness.

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Prof Whitty said: "The patient is being transferred to a specialist NHS centre and we are using robust infection control measures to prevent any possible further spread of the virus.

"The NHS is well prepared to manage these cases and we are now working quickly to identify any contacts the patient has had."

The top medical official did not say where they contracted coronavirus but it is understood that is was in Singapore.

The new advice for travellers, posted on the Government website, reads: "Based on the scientific advice of Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), the UK chief medical officers are advising anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days, and is experiencing cough or fever or shortness of breath, to stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if symptoms are mild.

"These countries have been identified because of the volume of air travel from affected areas, understanding of other travel routes and number of reported cases. This list will be kept under review."

A medical worker takes the temperature of a woman in the reception of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong
REUTERS

Until now, this advice only related to people from Wuhan in China. Anyone with symptoms will be tested for coronavirus.

Prof Whitty said: "We knew this ratchet up might well happen and this is the moment where we feel it's prudent... to make this shift.

"What we have got is a situation where very high risk remains in Wuhan and Hubei, a high risk in the rest of China, but much lower than in Wuhan and Hubei, and then a much smaller risk in a number of countries, and unsurprisingly countries where the greatest risk is in terms of new cases are the ones which have the greatest international traffic with China, and that is exactly as you would expect."

He said there is no evidence of sustained person-to-person onward transmission of the virus outside China.

The University of Sussex, which has a large campus on the outskirts of Brighton, said in a statement that the new case was not a student or member of staff there.

Health officials are not understood to be "contact tracing" people on any Asia-UK flight the latest sufferer may have travelled on.

The UK Foreign Office has advised Britons in China to leave if they are able to.

Earlier, the Chinese ambassador to the UK warned against "rumours and panic" after concerns were raised that Boris Johnson has not offered a personal message of support to China's leaders.

More than 80 UK citizens and family members who were the first to be quarantined at Arrow Park Hospital on the Wirral have been told they can leave next Thursday.

The group are spending 14 days in isolation but will be released next week as long as they remain symptom-free.

Meanwhile, 78 people with British passports - including crew - are in quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, sources have said.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to 28,273 on Thursday.Some 260 of those have been recorded outside China.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has said, its battle against the coronavirus, China is gradually achieving results and is fully confident and capable of defeating the epidemic.

Speaking to US President Donald Trump, he added that the country has spared no effort in its fight to contain the outbreak, having taken the most comprehensive and stringent prevention and containment measures.

The long-term trend of the country's economic development will not change, Xi said, according to state television.

Additional reporting from PA

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