EIGHTY-THREE patients rescued from coronavirus-hit Wuhan are today being let out of Arrowe Park after two weeks in isolation.
Dozens of Brits were isolated in Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside after being flown out of China as the killer virus’ death toll climbed.
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The group have now all tested negative for the virus and will now be able to return home after the fraught two weeks in quarantine.
And one Brit patient punched the air as he left quarantine after 14 days stuck in isolation.
The isolated Brits had previously revealed the conditions inside the quarantine centre that saw them having access to Netflix and given Primark underwear.
During their time in quarantine one of the group had threatened to abscond from the isolation unit, prompting the Government to announce new legal powers allowing people with the illness to be forcibly quarantined, and forcibly sent into isolation if deemed to pose a threat.
Meanwhile, one patient locked in was hoarding free booze to dish out to other evacuees.
It was also confirmed the 118 patients still quarantined in Milton Keynes have tested negative for coronavirus.
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, praised the Brits for being “highly responsible and pragmatic” during the quarantine.
He said today: “They have set an important example, recognising that over the coming weeks many more of us may need to self-isolate at home for a period to reduce this virus’s spread”.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said those quarantined had been given a clean bill of health and people “can be reassured that their departure presents no risk to the public”.
SPREAD SCARE
It comes after the first case of coronavirus in London was confirmed yesterday as the number of UK patients climbed to nine.
The latest patient, believed to be a woman, is now being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
She is understood to have flown into the capital from China before testing positive for the bug, now known as the Covid-19 virus.
Nine people are being treated for the killer virus in the UK as the global death toll climbs to more than 1,115.
And the evacuated group’s release comes a day after Steve Walsh, the businessman at the centre of the UK outbreak of coronavirus, was given the all-clear and discharged from hospital.
Mr Walsh, a 53-year-old scout leader from Hove in East Sussex, contracted coronavirus on a business trip to Singapore – and is linked to five other people diagnosed with it in the UK.
‘IT COULD GO ANYWHERE’
And experts warned London could be at risk with a higher risk of the bug being passed on the Tube.
Of the nine people so far diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK, two are GPs.
Officials know that the pair worked at a nursing home, Worthing Hospital A&E and two GP practices between them.
Public Health England (PHE) confirmed on Wednesday it has traced and advised all close contacts of the two GPs, including about 12 patients.
Meanwhile, in Brighton, pupils at several schools have been told they could stay at home after reports that some teachers and families feared they had come into contact with the virus.
The Department for Education has issued advice to schools to follow instructions given by PHE regarding self-isolation for people who have recently travelled from Wuhan or specified countries.
Meanwhile, 44 more people on quarantined cruise ship the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the virus, authorities in Japan have said.
The country’s health ministry said 218 of the 713 tested on board the ship, which is carrying more than 3,500 passengers and crew, have been infected.
The vessel has been in quarantine since returning to the Yokohama Port on February 3.
There have been more than 44,700 cases of the virus in China. In the rest of the world more than 400 cases have been confirmed across 24 countries. One death has occurred outside China.
