Foreign Office warns against ‘all but essential travel’ to China
The Foreign Office has warned against “all but essential travel” amid the coronavirus outbreak which has spread across the globe.
The death toll rose to over 100 today, with the number of confirmed cases doubling to nearly 5,000.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “Due to the increasing travel restrictions and the public health situation, we now advise against all but essential travel to China.”
The British embassy in Beijing has said it is “working to make available an option” for British nationals to leave Hubei province.
Raab said: “We are also working urgently to finalise arrangements for an assisted departure from Hubei Province for British nationals this week, and are in contact with people in Hubei to ensure they register their interest and that we can keep them updated.”
Today Germany confirmed that its first case of coronavirus was the result of human-to-human transmission. The 33-year-old man caught the disease when he attended a meeting with a Chinese colleague, officials said.
The UK has not confirmed any coronavirus cases. The Department of Health and Social Care said that it had tested 97 people, but so far there have been no positive diagnoses.
Chinese authorities have stepped up measures to contain the spread of coronavirus and extended travel restrictions.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced that travel between the territory and China would be suspended from Thursday in a bid to halt the spread of infection.
Hong Kong Airlines and Cathay Pacific have both said they would halve the number of mainland flights to operate in line with the new government directives.
HSBC banned all staff travel to Chinese-ruled Hong Kong for two weeks and to mainland China until further notice, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The Foreign Office had previously advised against all but essential travel to Wuhan in the Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated.
European shares regained ground today after falling 2.5 per cent on Monday. The FTSE 100 index closed with gains close to 1 per cent.