Coronavirus outbreak: UK urges citizens to leave China

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - British people in China should leave the country, the government urged on Tuesday.

"In light of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO] advises against ‘all but essential’ travel to mainland China and now recommends that British Nationals who are able to leave China do so," said a statement by the office.

“The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

“As such, we now advise British Nationals in China to leave the country if they can, to minimise their risk of exposure to the virus,” he said.

“Where there are still British nationals in Hubei Province who wish to be evacuated, we will continue to work around the clock to facilitate this," Raab added.

Britain’s Foreign and Common Office has advised citizens to avoid all but necessary travel to China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

British government last week brought back around 200 citizens from the Wuhan region, the center of the outbreak. They are to remain in quarantine by health officials for two weeks during the incubation period for the virus.

The death toll from coronavirus has risen to 425, with more than 20,000 confirmed cases.

Besides China, the virus has spread to more than 20 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain, and India.

Many nations have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan and other affected areas of China, placing them in isolated medical care.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international emergency.