‘I’m going for a kebab and a beer’: Belgian coronavirus quarantine patient reveals the first thing he plans to do is have a drink and a takeaway as he’s released
- Philip Soubry left the Saint-Pierre hospital in Brussels after two-week lockdown
- He did not show any symptoms of the virus or feel sick during his quarantine
- 54-year-old tested positive after returning on an evacuation flight from Wuhan
Belgium’s only coronavirus patient said he was ‘going for a kebab and a beer’ after he was released from quarantine.
Philip Soubry left the Saint-Pierre hospital in Brussels after testing negative for the virus for two days in a row.
The 54-year-old patient did not show any symptoms of the virus while in hospital and did not feel sick, according to Flemish broadcaster VRT.
As he left the hospital with a suitcase on Saturday night he said he was ‘extremely relieved’ and would celebrate with a pint, a takeaway and a visit to his parents.
Philip Soubry (pictured) left the Saint-Pierre hospital in Brussels after testing negative for the virus for two days in a row
‘After two weeks in such a small room I am very relieved. It was very difficult,’ Mr Soubry told journalists outside the hospital.
‘First I will say hello to my parents in Gullegem and then I will drink a pint and eat a kebab,’ he said.
‘I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time. Because I was really fed up with eating at the hospital.’
Mr Soubry was one of nine Belgians flown home on a rescue flight from Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak.
All nine had a series of tests at a military hospital when they returned, but Mr Soubry was the only one to test positive.
The other eight have been kept under observation at the military hospital, and were due to leave at the weekend.
The Belgian case caused some alarm in Britain after it emerged that the patient had travelled on the same flight as UK citizens returning from China.
Belgium’s health agency said the patient was on board the flight back to France, which carried passengers from 30 other countries.
The hospital in Brussels where the 54-year-old patient was kept in quarantine after testing positive for the virus two weeks ago
World health bosses recommend a 14-day isolation period for anyone who may have come into contact with a virus patient.
Drugmakers are racing to develop a vaccine and treatment for the epidemic.
The death toll jumped to 1,770 today after 105 more people died, China’s National Health Commission said.
More than 70,500 have now been infected nationwide by the virus, which first emerged in December in central Hubei province before spreading across the country.
Outside China, the biggest cluster of infections is from the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan’s Yokohama, where an additional 99 cases were revealed on Monday.
That brought the total to 454 diagnosed despite passengers being confined to their cabins during a 14-day quarantine.