BRITAIN is facing a major coronavirus outbreak after two British doctors were diagnosed with the deadly bug.
Public health officials are frantically searching for patients who were treated by the two GPs infected by the “super-spreader”.
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Dr Catriona Greenwood is thought to be one of the two medics infected — and may have passed the bug on to patients.
A Brighton GP practice where Dr Greenwood works as a locum was shut yesterday for decontamination and officials are scrambling to trace patients to be tested.
It is understood one of the doctors at the practise had treated about a dozen people in the past two weeks while the other saw one patient.
However, Whitehall sources suggested the cluster meant hundreds of people would have to be tested for the virus.
It comes as the death toll from the killer disease tops 1,000.
The medics were among four new cases confirmed yesterday — a woman and three men.
SCRAMBLE TO TRACE PATIENTS
All of them shared an Alps holiday chalet with the “super-spreader” on holiday, believed to be a dad-of-one Scout leader who infected 11 other Brits.
The married Brighton businessman picked up the virus in Singapore during a work conference in January.
Days later, he then passed it on to pals during a France ski trip.
Another is in hospital in Spain and five more are being treated at specialist wards in London.
It means the total number of people infected in the UK has doubled in 24 hours to eight.
Five Brits are now in isolation in three separate hospitals.
Dr Greenwood’s husband Bob Saynor is currently being treated in Grenoble hospital, alongside their nine-year-old son, after they were both diagnosed.
The 50-year-old was a partner at County Oak medical centre until last summer, when she and her family moved to France.
A Government source said she is one of the four latest Brits to be confirmed with coronavirus and is now being treated in London.
Last night the World Health Organisation warned of the potential of a major outbreak.
Director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire.”
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Yesterday a student from the University of Sussex was today rushed to hospital to be tested for coronavirus.
Officials in hazmat suits were seen at the campus in Falmer, Brighton after the student fell ill after recently returning from abroad.
Patcham Nursing Home on the edge of the city was also closed to visitors as a precaution amid fears one of the infected medics had visited on Tuesday.
Worried residents in Brighton have accused the government of keeping them in the dark over the coronavirus.
One local, who arrived at the scene without knowing there was a virus scare, said: “I tried to call but there was no answer so I came down here to see for myself and I haven’t had any luck.
“We don’t really know what’s going on and there needs to be some answers because this is a deadly situation where people need to be informed.”
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In France a third school attended by the couple’s nine-year-old was ordered to close. The boy had spent two hours at the school at honon-les-Bains near Les Contamines-Montjoie, where the family lives, on January 31 for a French exam.
Two other schools he attended had already been closed and on Sunday more than 100 people, many of them children, had queued for coronavirus tests.
None have tested positive.
Three other British adults are in French hospitals after they were diagnosed.
They are thought to have been infected by the “super spreader” who stayed at the couple’s chalet.
SCHOOLS SHUT
There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China, while the death toll in China now stands at 908.
It comes as a new study claims people can carry the virus for up to 24 days before symptoms appear.
A school in Southampton has been evacuated after pupils with a travel history to south-east Asia developed coronavirus-like symptoms.
British Airways has extended its suspension of flights serving Beijing and Shanghai.
The airline said on Monday that it has cancelled flights to and from the cities until March 31.
In a statement, the airline said: “We are contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do and we will keep the situation under review.”
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