Achartered flight has been scheduled to evacuate more British citizens from Wuhan on Sunday. While the government has arranged for a third rescue flight to the city, British citizens in other parts of China are expected to find their own way out of the country. With more and more airlines halting service to and from the country, the Foreign Office has asked expats to leave the country at the earliest. It has also advised British citizens to avoid travelling to China in the coming months.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has confirmed that there is a plan to repatriate more British citizens and their families. Raab stated that the Foreign Office is working to facilitate the evacuation of British nationals from the Hubei Province via the Wuhan airport. The two previous flights evacuated a total of 95 British citizens. Most of the evacuees remain in quarantine while the suspected coronavirus patient remains in isolation at John Radcliff Hospital in Oxford.

It has been estimated that there are still 30,000 British nationals in China. With the cancellation of services of airlines like British Airways and Lufthansa, many of them are unable to get tickets to return to the United Kingdom. While the Foreign Office is repeatedly asking those left in China to return to the UK, no help is being extended by the government.

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Graphic on the different evacuation plans for foreigners in China AFP / Robin BJALON AFP / Robin BJALON

Speaking to The Sun, Navjot Singh from Dulwich, London complained about the lack of support from the British government. Singh travelled to China with his wife and daughter on January 20. The family's plan of returning to London was derailed when their flight was cancelled by the airline. Since the cancellation of the flight, the family has been unable to book a flight back.

Singh claims that when he tried to contact the Foreign Office, he was informed that only those in Wuhan were being flown back. The author narrated that he was asked to make his own travel arrangements.

In the coming days, it might become more difficult to find a flight out of the country as more airlines might halt service.

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