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The first case of coronavirus has been diagnosed in London, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to nine.
The patient has tested positive for the illness, now also known as Covid-19, and is being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in the capital.
Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty confirmed the most recent case in a statement on Wednesday evening and said the virus had been passed on in China.
It is understood the person was diagnosed in London. The BBC reported that the patient is believed to be a woman.
Mr Whitty said: “One further patient in England has tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of cases in the UK to nine.
“This virus was passed on in China and the patient has now been transferred to a specialist NHS centre at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London.”
Meanwhile, the quarantine of 83 people being held in Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, is expected to be lifted on Thursday amid reports they have all tested negative for the covid-19 strain of the coronavirus.
All of those in quarantine were flown back from China and taken directly to the hospital after arriving in the UK on January 31.
A government spokesman said the “quarantine is expected to end tomorrow” but declined to comment on the test results of the patients.
Earlier today, Steve Walsh, the businessman at the centre of the UK outbreak of coronavirus said he was “happy to be home” after being discharged from hospital .
Mr Walsh, a 53-year-old scout leader from Hove in East Sussex, had been treated at the specialist infectious diseases unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, but has now been given the all-clear.
Wuhan, China: Coronavirus – In pictures
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A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong
Reuters
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Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo
AFP via Getty Images
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A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020
AFP via Getty Images
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People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port
AFP via Getty Images
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A man wearing a protective face mask commutes on a road as it rains in Shanghai o
AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
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A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan
AFP via Getty Images
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A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg
Getty Images
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The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
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A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China
Reuters
12/55
Officers in protective gear escort a person who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and had tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
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Quarantine Officials on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
PA
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A chartered passenger jet carrying evacuated citizens from China taxis on the runway after landing at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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Getty Images
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A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
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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
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French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China
AFP via Getty Images
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Staff members of a funeral parlour wearing protective suits disinfecting a colleague after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, during the virus outbreak in the city
AFP via Getty Images
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Base personnel patrol inside a gate at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
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A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
23/55
Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China
REUTERS
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An ambulance carrying a South Korea citizen repatriated from Wuhan, China who has shown flu-like symptoms during in-flight screening for novel coronavirus leaves Gimpo airport
Getty Images
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Coaches enter RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where a plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
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Medical staff walk to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore
AFP via Getty Images
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Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
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Empty racks where face masks are usually sold at a DIY store in west London. Pharmacies are working to boost stocks as demand for face masks in the UK appears to be on the rise amid fears about the coronavirus
PA
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Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok
AFP via Getty Images
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People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
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A man hoards the last few bottles of alcohol left in a pharmacy, after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
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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
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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
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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
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Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
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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
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Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
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Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
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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
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Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
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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
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A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
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Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
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Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
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A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
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An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
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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
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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
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An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
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Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
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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
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The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
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Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
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Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
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A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
1/55
A child waves as she sits in a vehicle carrying residents evacuated from a public housing building, following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, outside Hong Mei House, at Cheung Hong Estate in Hong Kong
Reuters
2/55
Doctor Paul McKay, who is working on an vaccine for the 2019-nCoV strain of the novel coronavirus, poses for a photograph with bacteria containing fragments of coronavirus DNA, at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in Londo
AFP via Getty Images
3/55
A woman wearing a Minnie Mouse face mask looks at her mobile phone in Beijing on February 11, 2020
AFP via Getty Images
4/55
People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port
AFP via Getty Images
5/55
A man wearing a protective face mask commutes on a road as it rains in Shanghai o
AFP via Getty Images
6/55
AFP via Getty Images
7/55
AFP via Getty Images
8/55
A patient covered with a bed sheet at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital as it starts to accept patients displaying mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan
AFP via Getty Images
9/55
A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridg
Getty Images
10/55
The Costa Smeralda cruise ship of Costa Crociere, carrying around 6,000 passengers, is docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia after a health alert due to a Chinese couple and a possible link to coronavirus on board, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
11/55
A medical official takes the body temperature of a man at the departure hall of the airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, China
Reuters
12/55
Officers in protective gear escort a person who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and had tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
13/55
Quarantine Officials on the Diamond Princess cruise ship
PA
14/55
A chartered passenger jet carrying evacuated citizens from China taxis on the runway after landing at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
15/55
Getty Images
16/55
A police vehicle enters the gates of the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
17/55
A plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire
18/55
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
19/55
French citizens arrive and settle aboard of an evacuation plane with destination southeastern France, before departure from Wuhan Airport (WUH), China
AFP via Getty Images
20/55
Staff members of a funeral parlour wearing protective suits disinfecting a colleague after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province, during the virus outbreak in the city
AFP via Getty Images
21/55
Base personnel patrol inside a gate at the Royal Air Force station RAF Brize Norton in Carterton
AFP via Getty Images
22/55
A member of staff at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside prepares for a bus carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
23/55
Police stand at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge that crosses from Hubei province in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China
REUTERS
24/55
An ambulance carrying a South Korea citizen repatriated from Wuhan, China who has shown flu-like symptoms during in-flight screening for novel coronavirus leaves Gimpo airport
Getty Images
25/55
Coaches enter RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where a plane carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China
PA
26/55
Medical staff walk to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore
AFP via Getty Images
27/55
Passengers wearing face masks are seen on a bus after disembarking from the Costa Smeralda cruise ship, after tests on a woman from Macau with suspected coronavirus came back negative, in Civitavecchia, Italy
Reuters
28/55
Empty racks where face masks are usually sold at a DIY store in west London. Pharmacies are working to boost stocks as demand for face masks in the UK appears to be on the rise amid fears about the coronavirus
PA
29/55
Workers produce masks at the Thai Hospital Product Company Ltd. factory in Bangkok
AFP via Getty Images
30/55
People hoard bottles of alcohol after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
31/55
A man hoards the last few bottles of alcohol left in a pharmacy, after the Philippine government confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the country, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Reuters
32/55
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
33/55
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
34/55
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
35/55
Students wearing masks meditate prior to a lesson at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AP
36/55
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
37/55
Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing
AP
38/55
Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus
AFP via Getty Images
39/55
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
40/55
Buddhist monks wear masks as they walk near Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodi
AP
41/55
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
42/55
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
43/55
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
44/55
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
45/55
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
46/55
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
47/55
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
48/55
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
49/55
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
50/55
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
51/55
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
52/55
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
53/55
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
54/55
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
55/55
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
He is thought to have contracted coronavirus on a business trip to Singapore, before he stopped off at a ski region in France, where five other Britons were subsequently infected with coronavirus.
Mr Walsh is also linked to five other people diagnosed with it in the UK, as well as with a Briton taken ill in Majorca, taking the number of confirmed cases linked to him to 11.
Two of the nine confirmed cases in the UK involve GPs.
Officials know that the pair worked at a nursing home, Worthing Hospital A&E and two GP practices between them.
Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said on Wednesday that a number of GPs from Brighton were among those staying in the French ski chalet with Mr Walsh.
He said one of those completed a locum shift at Worthing A&E last week and, as a precaution, the hospital has now “sent home for self-isolation a number of their staff from various departments of the hospital”.
As a result, the hospital is experiencing some staff shortages, he said.
