Coronavirus latest updates: two MPs self-isolate over conference scare – live news

A British man stuck with his wife onboard a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan because of the coronavirus outbreak has criticised Boris Johnson and appealed to billionaire Richard Branson to save them.

David Abel, who is on the Diamond Princess ship with his wife Sally where more than 200 people have been diagnosed with the disease, said despite being a “staunch Tory” he had “no confidence” in the prime minister.

Abel said: “When he [Johnson] just says ‘keep calm, don’t panic’ – I’d like to see you in this situation, mate. I really would.”

In a Facebook live video, he also appealed for Virgin boss Branson to charter a plane to fly all British nationals on the ship home to carry out their quarantine.

He appealed directly to Branson, saying: “If you and your family were in this situation, what would you do? And please don’t say ‘chill out, stay calm’, that’s not what we want to hear.

I’m asking, what would it cost to hire one of your smaller planes, put all the Brits onboard, no flight attendants, packaged food?

Take us to Brize Norton, take us straight into the medical facility and let us do our quarantine there by people who can speak our language.”

Abel added: “I’m serious, Richard Branson, absolutely serious. I think he is the man, he’s not afraid to speak his mind. He’s the guy who could resolve this for the Brits.”

He continued: “Whatever the cost, we will somehow find a way of paying for that plane.

Don’t know how but we wouldn’t want you to be out of pocket on that. But this is just how damned desperate some of the passengers are becoming.”

The couple said previously that they had declined the offer to leave the ship and continue their quarantine ashore if they test negative for the virus. The vessel was quarantined when it arrived in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, at the start of the month after it emerged that a passenger who had disembarked in Hong Kong in late January had tested positive for the disease.

Professional golf tournaments in China and Malaysia have both been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, organisers have announced.

The Volvo China Open, in Shenzhen, and the Maybank Championship, in Kuala Lumpur were due to take place in April. Organisers are looking at rescheduling the tournaments for later this year.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said:

The well-being of our players, spectators and staff is always our absolute priority. While it is therefore regrettable that the Maybank Championship and Volvo China Open have been postponed, we feel this is the correct course of action at this time. We are currently investigating alternative dates for both events.”

Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President & CEO of Maybank, said:

The decision to postpone the Maybank Championship was made after intense deliberation and careful consideration in the interest of all the players, visitors, working teams and partners.

The postponement of the Maybank Championship was not an easy decision to make, however, the safety of all stakeholders takes precedence, and we want to ensure that any risk of possible exposure to Covid-19 is mitigated. We will monitor the situation and work closely with the European & Asian Tours, as well as our other partners, as we plan for our return in the future.”

Here’s a dispatch from the opening day of London fashion week by my colleague Hannah Marriott, who reports that the coronavirus outbreak has dealt a blow to the numbers in attendance.

The majority of press and buyers from China, which is responsible for a third of global luxury sales, are not at the five-day event, she reports.

The British Fashion Council’s chief executive, Caroline Rush, has announced that heightened hygiene measures are in place at the central London venue on the Strand, with a “deep clean” each night and antibacterial hand sanitisers handed out.

Two MPs who went to a London conference alongside a delegate who has since tested positive for coronavirus are among more than 200 attendees who have been contacted by health officials.

A letter has been sent by Public Health England (PHE) to those who went to the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre in Westminster on February 6.

The attendee who has caught the disease is among nine people diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK.

Dr Yimmy Chow, consultant in health protection at PHE, said:

One of our main priorities has been to identify any people who we think have been in close contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19 to provide public health advice, as they may be at slightly increased risk of catching the virus.

While the degree of contact conference delegates may have had with the case is unlikely to have been significant, we have taken a precautionary approach and informed them of the situation.”

People trapped in Wuhan have been volunteering and checking in on the animals whose owners are stuck outside the city.

A second MP who was speaking at the Bus Summit attended by someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus has also gone into self-isolation.

Lilian Greenwood, the MP for Nottingham South, joined her Labour colleague Alex Sobel in cancelling her engagements until next week as a precaution (see earlier)

In a Twitter post, Greenwood shared a letter from Public Health England which has been trying to contact all those who attended the conference last week at London’s QEII Centre.

It advise that if she develops symptoms she should “stay indoors and avoid contact with other people”.

Nearly 3,000 people in the UK have now tested negative for coronavirus, according to the latest daily update from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Of the 2,964 tests conducted in the UK, those who have tested positive still stands at nine. But officials have said it highly likely there will be more in the coming days.

A Labour MP has cancelled all his engagements after admitting that he was one of 200 delegates at a summit attended by someone who has since tested positive for the virus.

Alex Sobel, the MP for Leeds north west, said he attended the Bus Summit in central London on 6 February. Public Health England has been trying contacted everyone who came into close contact with someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus, including fellow attendees at the Bus Summit (see earlier).

Sobel said he had been informed he was “very low risk” but cancelled engagements until next Thursday as a precaution and is waiting to be assessed.

A spokesman for Sobel said he was not unwell and had no symptoms, but had decided to self-isolate at home until next week as a precaution.

Taiwan has accused China of dragging its feet over the evacuation of citizens stranded in the province at the centre of the outbreak, in the latest spat between the two neighbours, AFP reports.

Multiple countries have successfully arranged evacuation flights for nationals stuck in Hubei province where the epidemic is at its most intense and deadly.

But nearly 1,000 Taiwanese have been waiting for the best part of two weeks for a flight out.

On Wednesday, Chinese state media quoted local officials accusing Taiwan’s government of “repeatedly delaying” their return.

The reports said “political manipulation” was behind the delay but gave no concrete details.

For days Taiwanese officials gave few clues on what was behind the hold up as officials tried to broker an agreement behind the scenes.

But on Friday health minister Chen Shih-chung ended that silence, saying Beijing had “refused to cooperate”.

“The Chinese side has used all kinds of reasons to stall and refused our plans and recommendations. We deeply regret this,” he told reporters.

Taiwanese stuck in Wuhan said they have no idea what was causing the delays.

“Most people who are still in Wuhan and Hubei are very anxious and worried and we want to go back to Taiwan,” Hsiao Yung-jui, head of the Wuhan Taiwan Enterprises Association, told AFP.

Here’s a summary of events so far today:

• A senior White House official has called on Beijing to be more transparent over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. “We are a little disappointed that we haven’t been invited in and we’re a little disappointed in the lack of transparency coming from the Chinese,” said Larry Kudlow, the director of the US National Economic Council.
• One of the people diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK attended a central London conference last week with more than 200 delegates. Public Health England is trying to identify anyone who had close contact with the unnamed individual, including those who attended the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre on 6 February.
• A Channel 4 employee was taken to hospital to be tested for coronavirus on Thursday after being met at the channel’s London headquarters by health officials in protective clothing. The person is understood to have been on holiday recently in China in the last month and had some concerns about feeling unwell.
• China has reported another 121 deaths from the virus taking death toll in mainland China to 1,380. The lates figures remove 108 deaths from a previously issued count due to double-counting. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China rose to 63,851, a rise of 5,090 new cases.
• Six healthcare workers are among those who have died from the virus, Chinese health officials have disclosed. They were among 1,716 healthcare workers who have been infected.
• In Cambodia, more than 2,000 passengers and crew of the Westerdam cruise ship finally disembarked, after passengers were cleared of the virus. The ship had been refused entry to five different countries. A cruise ship, docked in Sydney, was also given the all clear after a person tested negative for the virus.
• Japan recorded its first death from the new coronavirus. It is the third coronavirus fatality outside mainland China.