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Britons stranded in a coronavirus-hit city in China are set be flown home tomorrow and isolated for two weeks, possibly in a military barracks, to stop the killer infection spreading in the UK.
The repatriation plane, which is due to leave Wuhan early tomorrow morning, may fly straight to a military base in the UK.
The pilots, attendants and medics will be issued with protective equipment to stop them being struck down by the virus.
Evacuees will have to agree to be isolated for two weeks, the incubation period for the virus, or will be banned from boarding the Government-chartered plane.
They will also undergo a health check and will not be able to board if they are displaying any coronavirus symptoms.
A Government source said: “We are working hard to get British nationals back from Wuhan, but public safety is the top priority and we aren’t taking any chances.
“Anyone we bring back will be isolated for 14 days. If they don’t want to be quarantined then they can stay in Wuhan.”
The returnees will be quarantined in a secure facility, possibly a military base, for the 14-day incubation period, whether they are showing symptoms or not.
Wuhan, China: Coronavirus – In pictures
1/25
Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
2/25
Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing
Getty Images
3/25
An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city
AFP via Getty Images
4/25
Passengers in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
5/25
Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
6/25
An arrivals board showing a cancelled flight from Wuhan to Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
7/25
Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
8/25
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
9/25
Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
10/25
Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
11/25
Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
12/25
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
13/25
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
14/25
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
15/25
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
16/25
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
17/25
A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
18/25
Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
19/25
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
20/25
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
21/25
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
22/25
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
23/25
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
24/25
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
25/25
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
1/25
Passengers wear face masks as the push their luggage after arriving from a flight at Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport
AFP via Getty Images
2/25
Taking precautions: with fears growing that the coronavirus will spread from China, a health official checks a woman’s temperature on the underground in Beijing
Getty Images
3/25
An empty road is seen in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province on January 27, 2020, amid a deadly virus outbreak which began in the city
AFP via Getty Images
4/25
Passengers in the arrivals concourse at Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
5/25
Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
6/25
An arrivals board showing a cancelled flight from Wuhan to Heathrow Terminal 4, London, as the Government’s Cobra committee is meeting in Downing Street to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus
PA
7/25
Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
8/25
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
9/25
Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
10/25
Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
11/25
Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
12/25
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
13/25
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
14/25
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
15/25
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
16/25
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
17/25
A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
18/25
Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
19/25
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
20/25
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
21/25
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
22/25
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
23/25
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
24/25
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
25/25
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
They will be cared for, offered any necessary medical attention, but will be kept isolated.
The stringent measures were ordered as health chiefs have become alarmed at how quickly the infection is spreading in China, with a small number of cases in other countries as well.
As the crisis grew, British Airways this morning cancelled flights in and out of China sparking fears that thousands of UK citizens on holiday or work visits there may struggle to get home easily.
The airline acted after the Foreign Office last night warned against all but essential travel to the whole of mainland China.
The new coronavirus strain, known as “2019-nCoV”, is so far less deadly than SARS which killed more than 770 people globally in the early 2000s, including 349 in mainland China.
But it is believed to be spreading more quickly, with the number of cases confirmed in mainland China soaring to nearly 6,000, more than the 5,327 SARS cases which happened in the country.
Foreign governments are now racing to repatriate their citizens from the Hubei province which is at the heart of the growing coronavirus crisis.
The British plane, with a doctor on board, was due to leave the UK mid-afternoon for the 5,512 miles to Wuhan which was the first of several cities put into lockdown by the Chinese authorities.
Around 250 Britons are believed to have been in Hubei but it was not clear how many of them wanted to get on the evacuation flight, which could leave around 7am local time.
The Government also faced the challenged of how to repatriate British citizens if air routes are shut down and there is a surge of foreigners seeking to get out of China.
Cabinet minister Baroness Morgan stressed the Government had experience of major repatriations to “get people home as quickly as we can.”
