Brit evacuee falls ill after second evacuation flight from Wuhan

After flying back only 83 British citizens from Wuhan, arrangements were made for a second rescue flight. What could possibly be the last rescue flight to bring back citizens to the United Kingdom landed with only 11 passengers on board. The passengers were supposed to be quarantined at the Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside. After one of the passengers reported symptoms similar to the viral infection, he was separated from the rest of the evacuees and will remain under treatment at a National Health Service facility.

Out of the estimated 300 British citizens residing or visiting the Hubei province, only 150 had tickets to take the evacuation flight back. After a cancelled flight, the first evacuation flight faced delays and many ticket holders could not make it in time. The Foreign Office managed to arrange a second rescue flight which landed in RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 8 p.m. on Sunday evening.

The second flight carried only 11 passengers. All the 11 evacuees were supposed to join some of the evacuees from the first flight in quarantine.

Liverpool Echo reported that of the 83 initial evacuees, only 10 were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital after the rest were medically cleared. Of the second group of evacuees, only one will not be joining the rest in Arrowe Park Hospital.

An electronic mail from Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Arrowe Park, reportedly revealed that one of the 11 passengers had self-isolated on-board the flight after feeling ill. On arrival, the patient was separately deboarded and taken to an NHS facility.

The email affirmed that the other evacuees had not shown symptoms of the infection but would need to be kept in isolation at the Arrowe Park Hospital for two-weeks. The evacuee who fell ill will be tested at the well-equipped NHS facility for the coronavirus infection. After the tests, the treatment path will be decided.

Around 30,000 British citizens are estimated to be staying in China. The Foreign Office has announced that it does not have any plans to conduct another evacuation mission. Those who wish to return to the UK have to find their own way back. Leaving China has become a difficult task since most airlines have suspended their service to the country until March.