<p>UK health officials said Friday that two people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, in Britain's first cases since the deadly outbreak emerged in China and spread globally.</p>.<p>The announcement came as 83 British citizens arrived back on a UK government-chartered flight from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the epidemic which has so far killed 213 people.</p>.<p>The plane carrying the Britons and 27 other foreign nationals landed at the Brize Norton military airbase in south central England shortly after 1:30pm (1330 GMT).</p>.<p>EU citizens on board will continue on to Spain while British families disembarking were set to be isolated for 14 days at a medical facility in the country's northwest.</p>.<p>With a growing number of cases reported in at least 19 other countries, the World Health Organization on Thursday declared an international public health emergency.</p>.<p>Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, insisted the country was "extremely well-prepared" and that officials were working with the WHO and others "to ensure we are ready for all eventualities".</p>.<p>"We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus," he said in a statement.</p>.<p>Whitty added the patients were receiving specialist care, including "tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus".</p>.<p>He added officials were working to identify any contacts the two patients had.</p>.<p>AFP understands the pair had travelled to China recently. UK health officials declined to reveal the location, citing patient confidentiality.</p>.<p>The domestic Press Association news agency reported they were being treated at a hospital in Newcastle, northeast England.</p>.<p>Other media reports said they had been staying at a hotel in the northern county of Yorkshire when they fell ill.</p>.<p>"It is not surprising that we now have two confirmed cases in the UK as we live in a global world," said Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.</p>.<p>"This is still primarily a Chinese emergency as 99 percent of cases have been in China and all deaths have been in China," he added.</p>.<p>China's National Health Commission revealed Friday that nearly 10,000 people there have been infected by the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, has been subject to an unprecedented lockdown, preventing residents from leaving in a bid to stop further spread.</p>.<p>Thousands of foreigners were among the millions of people confined in the metropolis, and numerous countries have begun airlifting their nationals out.</p>.<p>British diplomatic staff had been "working round the clock" to organise Friday's airlift, and had expected to evacuate up to 200 people but only 110 boarded.</p>.<p>"We will work with our international partners on further assistance for those who remain," a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.</p>.<p>The British families arriving at the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton base will be ferried by bus for the two-week quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in The Wirral in northwest England.</p>.<p>Anyone with suspicious symptoms will be taken to the nearby Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital, which has a high-level infectious diseases unit.</p>.<p>"It's welcome news that our evacuation flight has now left Wuhan," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.</p>.<p>"We know how distressing the situation has been for those waiting to leave."</p>
<p>UK health officials said Friday that two people had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, in Britain's first cases since the deadly outbreak emerged in China and spread globally.</p>.<p>The announcement came as 83 British citizens arrived back on a UK government-chartered flight from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the epidemic which has so far killed 213 people.</p>.<p>The plane carrying the Britons and 27 other foreign nationals landed at the Brize Norton military airbase in south central England shortly after 1:30pm (1330 GMT).</p>.<p>EU citizens on board will continue on to Spain while British families disembarking were set to be isolated for 14 days at a medical facility in the country's northwest.</p>.<p>With a growing number of cases reported in at least 19 other countries, the World Health Organization on Thursday declared an international public health emergency.</p>.<p>Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, insisted the country was "extremely well-prepared" and that officials were working with the WHO and others "to ensure we are ready for all eventualities".</p>.<p>"We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus," he said in a statement.</p>.<p>Whitty added the patients were receiving specialist care, including "tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus".</p>.<p>He added officials were working to identify any contacts the two patients had.</p>.<p>AFP understands the pair had travelled to China recently. UK health officials declined to reveal the location, citing patient confidentiality.</p>.<p>The domestic Press Association news agency reported they were being treated at a hospital in Newcastle, northeast England.</p>.<p>Other media reports said they had been staying at a hotel in the northern county of Yorkshire when they fell ill.</p>.<p>"It is not surprising that we now have two confirmed cases in the UK as we live in a global world," said Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.</p>.<p>"This is still primarily a Chinese emergency as 99 percent of cases have been in China and all deaths have been in China," he added.</p>.<p>China's National Health Commission revealed Friday that nearly 10,000 people there have been infected by the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, has been subject to an unprecedented lockdown, preventing residents from leaving in a bid to stop further spread.</p>.<p>Thousands of foreigners were among the millions of people confined in the metropolis, and numerous countries have begun airlifting their nationals out.</p>.<p>British diplomatic staff had been "working round the clock" to organise Friday's airlift, and had expected to evacuate up to 200 people but only 110 boarded.</p>.<p>"We will work with our international partners on further assistance for those who remain," a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.</p>.<p>The British families arriving at the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton base will be ferried by bus for the two-week quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in The Wirral in northwest England.</p>.<p>Anyone with suspicious symptoms will be taken to the nearby Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital, which has a high-level infectious diseases unit.</p>.<p>"It's welcome news that our evacuation flight has now left Wuhan," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.</p>.<p>"We know how distressing the situation has been for those waiting to leave."</p>