Coronavirus spreads to LONDON as patient who flew into the capital from China tests positive for the disease
The first case of the killer coronavirus has been confirmed in London, bringing the total cases in the UK to nine.
The latest victim, a woman, was diagnosed this afternoon and is currently being treated for the illness at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in south London.
She is thought to have flown into the UK from China a few days ago, with officials confirming she caught the virus in China.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England confirmed the case: '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.'
The case could trigger panic in the capital, with public health officials expected to try and hunt down anyone the infected person may have been in contact with.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this week that the coronavirus outbreak is a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public.
The latest case comes as all 83 people being held in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral were declared free of the virus.
They will be able to leave their accommodation on Thursday morning.
The detainees - who were being kept in a block of apartments - have all been tested and found not to have the virus.
Five coaches - carrying the 83 Britons who were on board the Wamos Air Boeing 747 on January 31 - were escorted into the Merseyside hospital by five police officers on motorbikes.
Earlier, two British prisoners including a 'drug dealer' who were sent home from Thailand were found not to have coronavirus.
Mark Rumble, 31, from Oxfordshire, was sent to HMP Bullingdon, close to Bicester, on January 27 and faces a series of charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs. He is due in court later this month and is expected to deny the charges.
Thailand's ministry claimed Mr Rumble had no symptoms of the never-before-seen virus when he was tested before flying back to the UK.
And it said he passed all of the standard health checks prisoners go through before they are extradited, claiming he wouldn't have been allowed to travel had he failed.
Officials in Thailand, the first country outside of China to record a case on January 13, claim there have been no cases among the 300,000 prisoners in the country.
And they told Sky News he has been in the UK for at least 16 days, meaning he had passed the accepted 14-day incubation period if he caught it in Thailand.
Mr Rumble reportedly collapsed in his cell at HMP Bullingdon on Monday. A second inmate developed flu-like symptoms and a third is also being tested for the virus.
Meanwhile, a prison nurse who first checked on Mr Rumble has put herself into 'self-isolation' at home, a source told MailOnline.
Also today, the Brighton coronavirus 'super-spreader' revealed he fears being turned into a 'national scapegoat' after accidentally infecting 11 other Britons with the illness.
Scout leader Steve Walsh, 53, is in an isolation unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London after picking up the disease from one of the 100 other delegates at a Singapore gas conference last month.
Today, his next-door neighbour of 15 years said the father of two is 'feeling fine' but feels concerned about how he will be perceived.
'I've spoken to his wife Cathy directly and to Steve by email and they are absolutely terrified of being made scapegoats for all this which would be totally unfair,' Ian Henshall, a 59-year-old author, told The Mirror.
'He acted as quickly as he possibly could as soon as he got ill. They are a lovely family. He is feeling fine now and Cathy is hoping he will be able to leave isolation and come home soon.
'They are just obviously very concerned about being made scapegoats in all this.'
It came as two teachers at the school Mr. Walsh's two children usually attend were put into 'self-isolation' in case they had picked up the virus, as health authorities try to trace hundreds of people he and other Britons have come into contact with since returning from Asia.
Mr. Walsh, who is an assistant cub scout leader at the 3rd Hove St Leonards Scout Group where the children know him as Shere Khan, decided to reveal his identity to MailOnline yesterday after inadvertently putting Brighton at the center of Britain's coronavirus crisis.
In the past 24 hours two city health centers have been closed, a care home is on lockdown and children at one primary school have been told they can stay at home after two GPs became confirmed cases and a teacher was quarantined at home.
The spread of the disease has sparked panic in the south coast city, where residents have accused public health officials of 'losing control' by 'intentionally hiding' information about Mr. Walsh including his identity and exact movements since he came home on January 28.
The latest victim, a woman, was diagnosed this afternoon and is currently being treated for the illness at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in south London.
She is thought to have flown into the UK from China a few days ago, with officials confirming she caught the virus in China.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England confirmed the case: '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.'
The case could trigger panic in the capital, with public health officials expected to try and hunt down anyone the infected person may have been in contact with.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this week that the coronavirus outbreak is a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public.
The latest case comes as all 83 people being held in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral were declared free of the virus.
They will be able to leave their accommodation on Thursday morning.
The detainees - who were being kept in a block of apartments - have all been tested and found not to have the virus.
Five coaches - carrying the 83 Britons who were on board the Wamos Air Boeing 747 on January 31 - were escorted into the Merseyside hospital by five police officers on motorbikes.
Earlier, two British prisoners including a 'drug dealer' who were sent home from Thailand were found not to have coronavirus.
Mark Rumble, 31, from Oxfordshire, was sent to HMP Bullingdon, close to Bicester, on January 27 and faces a series of charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs. He is due in court later this month and is expected to deny the charges.
Thailand's ministry claimed Mr Rumble had no symptoms of the never-before-seen virus when he was tested before flying back to the UK.
And it said he passed all of the standard health checks prisoners go through before they are extradited, claiming he wouldn't have been allowed to travel had he failed.
Officials in Thailand, the first country outside of China to record a case on January 13, claim there have been no cases among the 300,000 prisoners in the country.
And they told Sky News he has been in the UK for at least 16 days, meaning he had passed the accepted 14-day incubation period if he caught it in Thailand.
Mr Rumble reportedly collapsed in his cell at HMP Bullingdon on Monday. A second inmate developed flu-like symptoms and a third is also being tested for the virus.
Meanwhile, a prison nurse who first checked on Mr Rumble has put herself into 'self-isolation' at home, a source told MailOnline.
Also today, the Brighton coronavirus 'super-spreader' revealed he fears being turned into a 'national scapegoat' after accidentally infecting 11 other Britons with the illness.
Scout leader Steve Walsh, 53, is in an isolation unit at St Thomas' Hospital in London after picking up the disease from one of the 100 other delegates at a Singapore gas conference last month.
Today, his next-door neighbour of 15 years said the father of two is 'feeling fine' but feels concerned about how he will be perceived.
'I've spoken to his wife Cathy directly and to Steve by email and they are absolutely terrified of being made scapegoats for all this which would be totally unfair,' Ian Henshall, a 59-year-old author, told The Mirror.
'He acted as quickly as he possibly could as soon as he got ill. They are a lovely family. He is feeling fine now and Cathy is hoping he will be able to leave isolation and come home soon.
'They are just obviously very concerned about being made scapegoats in all this.'
It came as two teachers at the school Mr. Walsh's two children usually attend were put into 'self-isolation' in case they had picked up the virus, as health authorities try to trace hundreds of people he and other Britons have come into contact with since returning from Asia.
Mr. Walsh, who is an assistant cub scout leader at the 3rd Hove St Leonards Scout Group where the children know him as Shere Khan, decided to reveal his identity to MailOnline yesterday after inadvertently putting Brighton at the center of Britain's coronavirus crisis.
In the past 24 hours two city health centers have been closed, a care home is on lockdown and children at one primary school have been told they can stay at home after two GPs became confirmed cases and a teacher was quarantined at home.
The spread of the disease has sparked panic in the south coast city, where residents have accused public health officials of 'losing control' by 'intentionally hiding' information about Mr. Walsh including his identity and exact movements since he came home on January 28.
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