UK could ban ALL flights from China and block foreign citizens from entering if they have been to the country in past 14 days amid furious backlash over coronavirus ‘shambles’
The UK is considering a blanket ban on all flights from China and on foreign citizens entering the country if they have been to China in the last two weeks, reports suggest.
It could follow in the footsteps of the US, which has put a stop to any non-Americans entering the country if they have come from China.
Currently, there is no routine screening of people arriving from China because there is such a slim chance of them showing symptoms during the time they are in the airport.
There are, however, health checks for people being evacuated from the Hubei province at the heart of the outbreak, and doctors on standby at London Heathrow for anyone who becomes ill.
Official advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) yesterday urged all Brits currently in China – thought to be around 30,000 – to leave the country.
The developments come as the number of global cases has soared to almost 25,000 and 493 people have died.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday said he expects more cases to appear in the UK – there have been two so far – and that the worst of the outbreak was yet to come.
The UK Government is reportedly considering stopping all direct flights from China to the UK and preventing non-British people from entering the country if they have been in China in the past two weeks. Pictured, passengers wearing face masks at London Heathrow this month
Whether Britain puts the entry ban in place will depend on how much worse the outbreak gets in the coming days and weeks, The Times reported.
The Government’s response to the deadly outbreak has escalated in the past week. 416 people have been tested and two have returned positive.
A second UK-run evacuation flight will be sent to Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, on Sunday in a bid to bring any remaining Britons home.
The first landed last Friday, January 31, carrying 83 British passengers who are now in quarantine at a hospital in Merseyside. A further 11 arrived on Sunday.