Coronavirus: British passengers on Diamond Princess cruise ship land back in UK

Dozens of people who spent two weeks isolated on a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship in Japan have returned to the UK.

Thirty Britons and two Irish nationals took off from Haneda airport in Tokyo late on Friday and landed in Boscombe Down Ministry of Defence base near Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Saturday morning.

The flight also had British government and medical staff on board, the Foreign Office said.

On landing, the Britons in the group were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral for two weeks of quarantine.

It is unclear where the small number of Irish citizens would be taken.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab released a statement saying: “We have brought 32 British and European citizens safely home from Japan. The FCO worked hard to get them back to the UK securely.

“Our number one priority has consistently been the health and safety of UK nationals.”

It comes as Italy reported its second death from coronavirus, amid fears the viral outbreak could have an impact on the worldwide economy.

Among the Britons who spent two weeks in isolation on the Diamond Princess were Alan and Vanessa Sandford.

They were kept in their room after hundreds of cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on board.

Some 634 passengers and crew caught the SARS-like illness aboard the ship, which makes up more than half the confirmed cases outside of China.

Only the people who were not exhibiting symptoms were allowed to board the repatriation flight.

Mr Sandford said he understood why people might be “nervous” about those who have jetted back to the UK, but said he and his wife could not wait to be back home.

He told Sky News: “I think I might struggle a bit with this second lot of 14 days [in Wirral].

“You can’t get on with your life, everything’s on hold, and I’ve got this certificate that says I’m negative for the virus and nobody on the aircraft is going to be anything other than negative, so it just seems excessive.

“But I understand as well that people are nervous about having people back in the country.”

Another passenger, Alan Steele, who was separated from his new wife after being diagnosed with COVID-19, made a joke comparison between his awaited quarantine in Wirral and Butlins.

Writing on Facebook, he said: “Wendy’s test was negative so Butlins the Wirral here we come for 14 days.”

One Briton who has already spent two weeks in Wirral after being evacuated from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, said the time should go quickly.

“It is going to be boring at times, but if you can interact with others a bit and use the entertainment systems the time should pass pretty quickly,” Kharn Lambert told Sky News.

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Two Britons, David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, are being treated in a Japanese hospital after being diagnosed with the virus. It emerged today Mr Abel has pneumonia.

In a Facebook post, Mr Abel said the couple were “in the best place” and added: “See you all before we know it.”

He said they would both need to test negative three times in order to be discharged.

Two other British nationals who have been diagnosed with the virus are not present on the flight.

It is understood that several Britons who work on the ship have opted to remain, while other British nationals who live overseas have taken different routes home.

In other coronavirus developments:

• Mainland China reported a further fall in new daily virus cases on Friday to 889, bringing the total number of suspected and confirmed cases to 77,654, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the US
• Some 2,360 people have died
• 17 people have now died outside the mainland: five in Iran, two in Hong Kong, two in Italy, two in South Korea, two from the Diamond Princess cruise liner, one each in France, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan
• South Korea on Saturday reported an eight-fold jump in viral infections in four days to 433
• A total of 5,885 people in the UK have been tested, of which 5,876 were confirmed negative and 9 positive
• Protesters in Ukraine attacked buses carrying evacuees from China to a hospital after a fake email wrongly claimed some had already contracted the virus
• The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy will be among the topics for discussions among G20 financial leaders during their talks in Riyadh this weekend
• World Health Organisation analysis has found that, of those people who get coronavirus, around 80% have milder symptoms, around 20% become serious or critical, and 2% die

Meanwhile, passengers aboard another cruise ship in Cambodia have been cleared for travel home.

Britons aboard the Westerdam, who all tested negative for the virus, are said to be receiving health advice and help with booking flights home.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: British passengers on Diamond Princess cruise ship land back in UK