UK Declares "Novel Coronavirus a Serious and Immediate Threat to Public Health"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 10th, the UK government announced response measures, stating that the novel coronavirus poses a "serious and immediate threat to public health."

According to the BBC and others, the UK government is considering implementing new measures such as forcibly isolating individuals infected with the novel coronavirus. Health Secretary Matt Hancock emphasized that these measures are "to protect the public as much as possible from virus transmission," and designated two locations as isolation facilities: Arrow Park Hospital in the Wirral area of northwest England, and the Kents Hill Conference Centre near London.

Earlier, the UK government transported British nationals evacuated from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on its first chartered flight to Arrow Park Hospital, and those arriving on the second chartered flight on the 9th were quarantined for two weeks at the Kents Hill Conference Centre. According to the Daily Telegraph, there are currently eight confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the UK (two Chinese nationals and six British nationals), with four additional cases confirmed on this day alone.

Among British citizens, calls are growing for information on the movements and details of the so-called 'super spreader.' Excluding those confirmed in Japan, all British nationals diagnosed with the virus were infected through one 'super spreader.' This middle-aged man was the third person in the UK to be confirmed positive last month on the 6th. He attended a conference hosted by a company in Singapore from the 20th to the 23rd of last month, where he contracted the novel coronavirus.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.