Coronavirus: Border Force Recruited To Track Down 2,000 People Who Flew From Wuhan To UK
Border Force agents have been recruited in a bid to track down 2,000 people who have recently flown to the UK from the region of China most affected by the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Health officials have teamed up with the agents and airlines to speed up the search, with a spokesperson from the Department of Health (DoH) confirming they are hoping to locate “as many passengers as we can” who travelled from Wuhan in the past fortnight.
Checks are being carried out to establish the wellbeing of passengers who are at risk of being affected.
Officials have now confirmed the tests for a patient in Northern Ireland are negative for coronavirus.
Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer Michael McBride said: “I am being kept fully informed about the steps being taken to protect the public by the Public Health Agency and I am providing the minister with regular updates.”
England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said 14 people were given the all-clear on Thursday but more were being checked over, as Europe’s first confirmed cases of the illness were confirmed in France on Friday.
Whitty said there was a “fair chance” cases will emerge in Britain as the overall number reported around the world climbed to more than 1,200, including 41 deaths, all in China.
Public Health England would not comment on the results of further tests on Friday night and said an update would be issued on Saturday afternoon.
The professor spoke following a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall on Friday, chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
He said: “I am working closely with the other UK chief medical officers.
“We all agree that the risk to the UK public remains low, but there may well be cases in the UK at some stage.”
He added: “The UK has access to some of the best infectious disease and public health experts in the world.
“A public health hub will be set up in Heathrow from today. This consists of clinicians and...
