Coronavirus: Five Brits in French ski chalet catch virus

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Five Britons have tested positive for coronavirus in eastern France, the French health minister confirmed.

Four adults and a child were diagnosed with the virus after coming into contact with a British national who recently returned from Singapore.

It is thought this man returned to the UK on 28 January before being diagnosed with the virus himself on Thursday.

The five Britons, who stayed in the same ski chalet, were not in a serious condition, French officials said.

The man who is believed to have infected them became the third case of coronavirus in the UK when he tested positive on his return to Brighton. There have been almost 35,000 cases globally, mostly in China.

UK citizens who travelled on two repatriation flights from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus, are in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral.

A third flight to the UK will depart on Sunday with around 150 Britons, who will be taken to a conference centre in Milton Keynes for a 14-day quarantine.

The new cases all stem from a British national who arrived at Contamines-Montjoie ski resort, in Haute-Savoie, on 24 January for a four-day trip, before returning to England on 28 January.

The Briton had stayed in Singapore on a business trip from 20 to 23 January, the French health ministry said.

On his return to the UK, he is thought to have isolated himself at home and called NHS 111. After a positive test, he was taken to St Thomas' Hospital in London where he is being treated.

Public Health England also advised a student at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy in Brighton to self-isolate for 14 days, as part of their investigation into this case of coronavirus. The school said it had been advised by health authorities that there was no need to close.

The Brighton man told UK authorities that he had visited a chalet in Contamines-Montjoie, prompting French officials to take the 11 Britons staying there to hospitals in Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble on Friday night.

The chalet has two apartments where two families were staying, French authorities said in a news conference. A British couple and their three children, who are now resident in France, lived in one. The mother is in the UK at the moment and has been contacted.

Seven tourists were staying in the other apartment.

Those with the virus are the father of the family resident in France and his nine-year-old son, as well as three of the holiday-makers.

The nine-year-old boy attends the local school and has French classes at another school in St-Gervais. Both schools will be shut next week, and parents are being asked to keep their children under observation.

A crisis unit has been set up as a result of the new cases.

It comes as four members of the same British family were admitted to hospital in Majorca after contact with a coronavirus carrier.

They are being tested at the University Hospital of Son Espases in Palma.

The British family said they had been in contact with a person who recently tested positive for the virus in France, the government in Spain's Balearic Islands said.

Meanwhile, a British man transferred from a cruise ship off the coast of Japan on Friday after testing positive for the virus is said to be feeling well and in good spirits.

Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, on his honeymoon with his wife Wendy, was among 61 people to be taken off the ship for hospital treatment.

She has been in telephone contact with her husband, and said in a Facebook post on Saturday that he was still feeling healthy.
What's happening globally?

The majority of confirmed cases worldwide are in mainland China, where the total stands at 34,546.

On Saturday, the death toll rose to 722 in mainland China, including one American in Wuhan. A Japanese man also died in Wuhan with symptoms consistent with the virus.

Outside China, 270 cases have been confirmed in 25 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with two fatalities - one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

The five new cases in France brings the total in the country to 11.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong has begun a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone arriving from mainland China after 26 cases were recorded in the territory.
Media captionThe BBC's online health editor on what we know about the virus

The Department of Health and Social Care said that 686 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus as of Saturday afternoon, with three cases confirmed.

The two other UK cases - both Chinese nationals - are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

The latest British nationals to be flown out of Wuhan on Sunday will be taken to Kents Hill Park, a training and conference venue on the outskirts of Milton Keynes.
What's the latest UK travel advice?

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is advising against all but essential travel to mainland China and all travel to Hubei Province.

UK nationals have also been advised to leave China where possible.

Diary of a life in locked-down Wuhan
Coronavirus: Your questions answered

However, the government is not advising against travel to any other country or territory as a result of the virus.

Some airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, have suspended flights to and from China or revised their schedules.
What should I do if I suspect I have the virus?

The coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

Most people infected are likely to fully recover - just as they would from a flu.

Anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and is experiencing cough or fever or shortness of breath, is advised to stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if symptoms are mild.

In Scotland, you can phone your GP or NHS 24 on 111 out of hours. If you are in Northern Ireland, call 0300 200 7885.

Are you in Contamines-Montjoie? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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