London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

More Britons evacuated from Wuhan on French flight

More British nationals have been flown back to the UK from Wuhan in China, the centre of a new coronavirus outbreak.

Eleven Britons have arrived at RAF base Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, after taking a French flight to Marseille earlier.

They are going to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, where 83 others who were evacuated from Wuhan last week are spending two weeks in quarantine.

Joshua Drage, one of those in quarantine, said it was "unsettling" when he first arrived back in the UK.

"The first thing you're met with is a bunch of people in hazmat suits, which makes you feel like it's a lot worse," said Mr Drage, from Dungannon, County Tyrone, who had been in Wuhan teaching English.

He told Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme those in quarantine are wearing masks, adding: "Since none of us really knows who has and who doesn't have the virus... it's just safer for everyone if everyone follows the precaution."

The first group of evacuated British nationals arrived in the UK on Friday. Eighty-three Britons are staying in two apartment blocks normally used to house nurses. The nurses have been moved to local hotels.

Lecturer Yvonne Griffiths, 71, from Cardiff, said she had been put in a shared flat with four separate rooms, a kitchen and a lobby area, where food and drinks were delivered.

Speaking on her third day in quarantine, she said she had "some interaction" with the others in her flat.

"People go [to the lobby] to collect things and also pick up food and some people will stand having their food together, but all wearing masks," she said.

"Obviously you have to put your mask down a little for you to eat."


What is happening with British evacuees?

The 11 Britons who came via the French flight will be kept separately from the 83 already at the Wirral hospital.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News' Sophy Ridge he was "very grateful for the co-operation" from the French authorities.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme the government believes there may be around 30,000 British citizens still in China and will "do everything we can" to ensure those who want to leave have the opportunity to do so.


What about the two cases in the UK?

On Sunday a Public Health England spokeswoman said they were continuing to make good progress in tracing anyone who had close contact with two people diagnosed with the virus in the UK.

The two Chinese nationals - who are related - were taken ill at a hotel in York last week and are now being treated at a specialist facility in Newcastle.

One of the pair was a student at the University of York but was not on campus or in student accommodation before or after their exposure to the virus, the university said.

Dr Will Zhuang, president of the York Chinese Association, said he understood the pair had not arrived in York as part of a large tour group, and had only been in contact with one or two other families before falling ill.

Sharon Stoltz, City of York Council's director of health, said the risk to people in York remained "very low".


Has it affected the Chinese community in Britain ?

There have been some reports of racism aimed at Chinese and British Chinese people in the UK following the outbreak.

The Chinese Community Centre in Birmingham said: "Sadly, we're hearing that abuse against Chinese people in the UK has increased since coronavirus has spread."

Paediatric nurse Lucy Li, 35, from Wanstead, east London, said her 11-year-old daughter "reported last week that children are telling each other to 'stay away from all Chinese people because they are ill due to the virus'."

Ms Li, whose parents came to the UK from China in the 1960s, added: "Even when I went to the doctors, when I coughed I could see people moving away from me.

"I can't walk down the street without unwanted attention. It's degrading and enough is enough."

Chinese businesses have also said they are suffering. One restaurant owner in London's Chinatown said Friday's news that the virus had reached the UK prompted "immediate cancellations".

Martin Ma, general manager at Jinli, which has two branches in Chinatown, said the restaurants were having "a hard time". In his flagship restaurant, he estimated bookings were down by 50% this weekend, with losses of around £15,000.

"Normally we have queues going out of the door," Mr Ma told BBC News.

Some Chinese nationals who are studying in the UK have been unable to return from China because of travel restrictions imposed after the coronavirus outbreak.

The University of Derby said 15 of its students remained in China. Three students, who have already returned, have been asked to isolate themselves but are not showing symptoms, the university said.


What is the government's health advice?

The government has launched a public health campaign urging people to use tissues when they cough or sneeze and to wash their hands regularly.

The NHS-branded adverts, aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus, are appearing on social media, radio and in newspapers.

The adverts will also appear on outlets and online forums frequented by Chinese nationals in Britain.

Last week, the risk level to the UK was raised from low to moderate as the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency.

The Department of Health said no further positive cases had been confirmed in the UK by 14:00 GMT on Sunday.

Sixty-three more people have been tested for the virus in the past 24 hours, with a total of 264 people testing negative from 266 tests, the department said.

The death toll from the new virus, which is officially called 2019-nCov, now stands at more than 300.

More than 13,000 cases have been confirmed and a small proportion of those - around 100 - have been identified outside China. The UK, US, Russia and Germany have all confirmed cases in recent days.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
×