Coronavirus: Four new UK cases among ship evacuees - BBC News

Four cruise ship passengers flown to Britain on Saturday have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 13.

They were among 30 repatriated Britons and two Irish citizens beginning a 14-day quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral.

The four UK nationals caught the virus on the Diamond Princess liner in Japan, England's chief medical officer said.

They have now been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres.

Two patients are in the Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield, one is in the Royal in Liverpool and a fourth was transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, NHS England said.

Prof Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director for coronavirus said: "These specialist centres are well prepared to deal with cases and earlier this year the Newcastle unit successfully treated and discharged two patients who had contracted the virus."

Prof Willett added there had been a "calm response" to confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, "which will continue to be important as more of us might need to self-isolate for a time, to protect ourselves, our families and the community".

Prof Keith Neal, emeritus professor of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, said the four new cases were not surprising and would present no risk to the public.

The Department of Health said a "full infectious disease risk assessment" was done before Saturday's repatriation flight from Japan, adding that no-one who boarded the flight had displayed any symptoms of the virus.

Any more passengers who test positive will immediately be taken into specialist NHS care, the department said.

It added that "appropriate arrangements" are in place at Arrowe Park, including strict separation of passengers from staff and from each other.

It comes as 118 UK citizens and their family members rescued from Wuhan - the centre of the virus outbreak - ended their two-week isolation in Milton Keynes on Sunday.

Last weekend, NHS England announced that all but one of the nine people being treated for the coronavirus in the UK had been discharged from hospital.

Analysis

by BBC News medical correspondent Fergus Walsh

It's not surprising that some of those repatriated from the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the coronavirus.

They were on board a ship where the quarantine was a failure - more than one in five of the 3,700 passengers and crew have tested positive.

In the US, 18 repatriated passengers from the cruise ship subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, as did seven passengers flown back to Australia.

It would seem likely that more of those in quarantine in Arrowe Park hospital may test positive in the coming days.

But the NHS is well able to cope with such cases and can isolate and treat patients in specialist centres.

Far more concerning is the situation in Italy, Iran and South Korea, where there is human-to-human spread of the virus in the community, which could eventually lead to the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic.

Arrowe Park Hospital was previously used to isolate 83 British nationals who were flown back to the UK from Wuhan on the Foreign Office's first evacuation flight in January.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust reassured staff that the hospital was "running as usual".

"When guests arrived yesterday evening, we followed clear guidance in relation to infection prevention control. This was to minimise the chance of any infection spreading."

The evacuees had already spent two weeks in quarantine on board the cruise ship, but since then 600 passengers and crew have tested positive for the new virus, raising fears that the incubation period for the virus may be longer than originally thought.

Separately, four Britons from the ship who recently tested positive for the new coronavirus were not on Saturday's repatriation flight.

They included David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who have since been diagnosed with pneumonia, according to their family and are being treated in a Japanese hospital.

Relatives said the couple are both "having a really tough time" and feel "very much in the dark" in terms of treatment, adding that they are awaiting further tests.

Italy imposes lockdown

The new strain of coronavirus, which originated last year in Hubei province in China, causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19.

China has seen more than 76,000 infections and 2,442 deaths. The virus has since spread to at least 11 other countries.

Over the weekend, Italian officials imposed strict quarantine restrictions in two northern "hotspot" regions close to Milan and Venice, as the number of coronavirus cases soared to 130 - the worst outbreak in Europe.

Venice Carnival has been cut short, schools and museums closed and sporting events suspended as authorities struggle to contain the spread of the virus.

About 50,000 people cannot enter or leave several towns in Veneto and Lombardy for the next two weeks without special permission. Three people have died.

Elsewhere, authorities in South Korea and Iran are battling to control rising numbers of infections.

South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the "highest level". The UK Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the cities of Daegu and Cheongdo.

Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan have closed their borders with Iran, where eight people are known to have died. Officials have ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres in 14 provinces.

---

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2020-02-24 08:43:55Z
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Coronavirus: Four new UK cases among ship evacuees - BBC News

Four cruise ship passengers flown to Britain on Saturday have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 13.

They were among 30 repatriated Britons and two Irish citizens beginning a 14-day quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral.

The four UK nationals caught the virus on the Diamond Princess liner in Japan, England's chief medical officer said.

They have now been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres.

Two patients are in the Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield, one is in the Royal in Liverpool and a fourth was transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, NHS England said.

Prof Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director for coronavirus said: "These specialist centres are well prepared to deal with cases and earlier this year the Newcastle unit successfully treated and discharged two patients who had contracted the virus."

Prof Willett added there had been a "calm response" to confirmed cases of coronavirus so far, "which will continue to be important as more of us might need to self-isolate for a time, to protect ourselves, our families and the community".

Prof Keith Neal, emeritus professor of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham, said the four new cases were not surprising and would present no risk to the public.

The Department of Health said a "full infectious disease risk assessment" was done before Saturday's repatriation flight from Japan, adding that no-one who boarded the flight had displayed any symptoms of the virus.

Any more passengers who test positive will immediately be taken into specialist NHS care, the department said.

It added that "appropriate arrangements" are in place at Arrowe Park, including strict separation of passengers from staff and from each other.

It comes as 118 UK citizens and their family members rescued from Wuhan - the centre of the virus outbreak - ended their two-week isolation in Milton Keynes on Sunday.

Last weekend, NHS England announced that all but one of the nine people being treated for the coronavirus in the UK had been discharged from hospital.

Analysis

by BBC News medical correspondent Fergus Walsh

It's not surprising that some of those repatriated from the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the coronavirus.

They were on board a ship where the quarantine was a failure - more than one in five of the 3,700 passengers and crew have tested positive.

In the US, 18 repatriated passengers from the cruise ship subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, as did seven passengers flown back to Australia.

It would seem likely that more of those in quarantine in Arrowe Park hospital may test positive in the coming days.

But the NHS is well able to cope with such cases and can isolate and treat patients in specialist centres.

Far more concerning is the situation in Italy, Iran and South Korea, where there is human-to-human spread of the virus in the community, which could eventually lead to the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic.

Arrowe Park Hospital was previously used to isolate 83 British nationals who were flown back to the UK from Wuhan on the Foreign Office's first evacuation flight in January.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Trust reassured staff that the hospital was "running as usual".

"When guests arrived yesterday evening, we followed clear guidance in relation to infection prevention control. This was to minimise the chance of any infection spreading."

The evacuees had already spent two weeks in quarantine on board the cruise ship, but since then 600 passengers and crew have tested positive for the new virus, raising fears that the incubation period for the virus may be longer than originally thought.

Separately, four Britons from the ship who recently tested positive for the new coronavirus were not on Saturday's repatriation flight.

They included David and Sally Abel, from Northamptonshire, who have since been diagnosed with pneumonia, according to their family and are being treated in a Japanese hospital.

Relatives said the couple are both "having a really tough time" and feel "very much in the dark" in terms of treatment, adding that they are awaiting further tests.

Italy imposes lockdown

The new strain of coronavirus, which originated last year in Hubei province in China, causes a respiratory disease called Covid-19.

China has seen more than 76,000 infections and 2,442 deaths. The virus has since spread to at least 11 other countries.

Over the weekend, Italian officials imposed strict quarantine restrictions in two northern "hotspot" regions close to Milan and Venice, as the number of coronavirus cases soared to 130 - the worst outbreak in Europe.

Venice Carnival has been cut short, schools and museums closed and sporting events suspended as authorities struggle to contain the spread of the virus.

About 50,000 people cannot enter or leave several towns in Veneto and Lombardy for the next two weeks without special permission. Three people have died.

Elsewhere, authorities in South Korea and Iran are battling to control rising numbers of infections.

South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the "highest level". The UK Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the cities of Daegu and Cheongdo.

Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan have closed their borders with Iran, where eight people are known to have died. Officials have ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres in 14 provinces.

---

Have you been affected by the latest developments around Covid-19? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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2020-02-24 07:38:53Z
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Four new UK coronavirus cases among ship evacuees - BBC News

Four cruise ship passengers flown to the UK on Saturday have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the UK to 13.

They were among a group of 30 Britons and two Irish citizens beginning a 14-day quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral.

The four patients caught the virus on board the Diamond Princess in Japan, England's chief medical officer said.

They have now been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres.

It comes as more than 100 Britons rescued from China ended their isolation in Milton Keynes on Sunday.

The Department of Health said a "full infectious disease risk assessment" was done before Saturday's repatriation flight from Japan, adding that no-one who boarded the flight had displayed any symptoms of the virus.

Janelle Holmes, chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital reassured staff that the hospital was "running as usual".

"When guests arrived yesterday evening, we followed clear guidance in relation to infection prevention control. This was to minimise the chance of any infection spreading."

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2020-02-23 16:18:52Z
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Meghan Markle Reportedly Has Some "Secret" Visits Planned for Her and Prince Harry's Trip to the UK - TownandCountrymag.com

Samir HusseinGetty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will soon travel back to the UK for a final round of engagements, before their new arrangement officially takes effect at the end of March. This week, a loose itinerary was revealed for the trip—but it may not have been complete.

According to the Telegraph, Prince Harry has an additional public engagement slated for the couple's 12-day visit (an event in Scotland promoting his sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst) and Meghan has some more under-the-radar plans in the works.

The Duchess is "expected to run her own series of private engagements" alongside her previously announced public appearances (those would be the Endeavour Fund Awards on March 5, the Mountbatten Music Festival on March 7, an International Women's Day event on March 8, and the Commonwealth Day service on March 9). The Telegraph reports that, as with the Duchess's private engagements in the past, these visits will likely be shared after the fact on social media.

Some royal watchers had hoped that Meghan might make an appearance at a British Vogue event with Salma Hayek on March 7, which seems to have a connection to the Duchess's guest-edited issue of the magazine, titled "Forces for Change." Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful announced the discussion on Instagram this week, calling it "the very first @BritishVogue #ForcesForChange event" in a caption, and promising Hayek and "a host of my dear friends" would join him for a talk. However, sources tell the Telegraph that she won't attend, noting that she's scheduled to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival alongside Harry that day.

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2020-02-23 12:30:00Z
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1920: Britain, Italy and Japan Recognized Soviet Russia - The New York Times

Credit...International Herald Tribune

(BY TELEPHONE) LONDON, SUNDAY. — The Peace Conference is confronted with four important matters for discussion this week, not least the important of which is the Russian question. When M. Millerand, who returned to London this evening, resumes his part in conference to-morrow, he will face an agreement between Great Britain, Italy and Japan to recognise the Soviet Government. As a result of recent reports received from Soviet Russia, and on account of domestic political exigencies in London, Rome and Tokio, the representatives of those three capitals went as far as possible last week towards the inauguration of their new policy, pending the return of M. Millerand.

However, M. Millerand has been kept informed all the time, as all realise that the feeling of the French people and French Government is anything but the same as that of the others in regard to Soviet Russia.

While Britain has been forced to withdraw from Russia with losses, as America did; while Mr. Lloyd George is being continually pressed by the growing strength of the pro-Soviet Labor party; while Italy is faced with the necessity of conciliating her radicals; and while Japan is desirous of exploiting the nearness of Russia, the diplomats of these countries realise that there are millions in Russian bonds held in France which have been made valueless by the Russian Revolution. They realise that they cannot pass over these losses without showing an adequate return for them.

M. Millerand to-morrow will be faced with the following state of affairs:

First: That the Moscow Government, with the collapse of the Archange front and the destruction of the Deniken and Kolchak offensives, is in complete control of practically all of the old Russian Empire, with the exception of the new States.

Second: That evidence before the Peace Conference is continuing to accumulate to show that Lenin, Trotzky and his friends are going through an inevitable process of deradicalisation.

Third: That the developments growing out of the negotiations with regard to trading with the co-operatives have produced signs that freedom of trade with Russia may be the solution of Europe’s economic troubles. Europe can get raw materials from Russia without the hindrance of the unfavorable rate of exchange and tariff costs which is met in trade with the United States.

Mr. O’Grady, who has just returned from his negotiations with Litvinoff, is said to have supplied the missing and final argument in favor of recognition. He is reported to have said that the present Russian Government is now capable of entire internal control. It is even possible, he is reported to have declared that the present Government is prepared to pay all the old Russia debts, with the exception of those contracted in connection with nationalisation schemes.

Formal recognition is further made possible by Mr. O’Grady’s statements that the Soviet Government will not conduct a war of conquest for bolshevism, and that it is anxious to take its place among the nations.

M. Voida Voivod, of Roumania, is arriving to-night. A report which may complicate the Hungarian situation is the discovery of the details of a plot whereby, under the cover of the offer of the Hungarian throne to the. Roumanian Crown Prince, the Hungarian Royalists are attempting to foment an uprising in Transylvania in an effort to detach that province from Roumania and to attach it to Hungary. According to the report, the offer of the Crown was rejected and the plot was nipped in the bud.

— The New York Herald, European Edition, Feb. 23, 1920

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2020-02-23 10:00:00Z
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UK unveils 'iconic,' blue post-Brexit passports, made by a French-Dutch company in Poland - CNN

The first dark blue passports, which ditch the burgundy covers used by EU member states, will be issued in early March, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Saturday. Patel spoke of her excitement that "the British passport will once again be entwined with our national identity."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously praised the color change as a "wonderful thing" and bemoaned his "sense of personal loss and outrage" when the UK's previous blue passports were "taken away" in 1988.

What neither mentioned, however, was that the new passports are being made by the Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto at its site in Tczew, Poland.

"I actually like the French-designed Polish-printed new UK passport," former Remain-backing MEP Seb Dance said after the launch. "Of course the previous one -- which allowed Brits the right to work, study and retire freely across their own continent -- was probably more useful."

The prospect of a return to blue passports became a divisive subplot during the UK's bitter EU referendum in 2016 and its torturous attempts to leave the bloc in the years since -- and those battle lines were re-drawn after the launch was confirmed.

Brexiteers have frequently painted the move as a way to reclaim British identity and freedom from the EU, while Remainers saw it as a petty and inward-looking obsession.

"I think it's a wonderful thing if people want to have a blue passport again," Johnson told ITV News in 2017. "I remember a sense of personal loss and outrage when they were taken away." The UK was under no obligation to change the color of its passports in 1988, but decided to do so in line with its fellow EU members.

"What a way to symbolise renewed national spirit," campaign group Leave.EU said on Twitter on Saturday, after the change was confirmed for March.

Former British MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, in contrast, said the passports "symbolise (a) prevailing Tory attitude to rest of Europe: isolationist, ignorant and self-destructive."

The country prints new passports every few years, and the contract to make the new blue items was won by Gemalto in 2018 after it beat out British company De La Rue. At the time, Conservative MP Priti Patel called the decision "disgraceful" and "perverse."

But in more amenable language, Patel -- now the Home Secretary -- said on Saturday: "Leaving the European Union gave us a unique opportunity to restore our national identity and forge a new path in the world."

"By returning to the iconic blue and gold design, the British passport will once again be entwined with our national identity and I cannot wait to travel on one," she added.

The UK will now join 81 other countries which use blue on their passport covers, according to the Passport Index. The color is also adopted by nations including Argentina, Australia, Syria, Tuvalu and North Korea.

Britain left the EU on January 31, but negotiations with the EU are set to continue this year ahead of the expiration of the transition period in the withdrawal agreement.

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2020-02-22 12:13:00Z
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New blue British passport rollout to begin in March - BBC News

The first blue British passports for nearly 30 years will be issued next month, the Home Office has said.

The current burgundy design is being replaced, following the UK's departure from the European Union.

Blue passports were introduced in 1921 and phased out after 1988 when members of the then European Economic Community agreed to harmonise designs.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the passport will "once again be entwined with our national identity".

She said Brexit had given the UK "a unique opportunity to... forge a new path in the world" and enabled a return to "the iconic blue and gold design".

The UK was never formally compelled to change the colour of its passport in the 1980s but did so with other member states.

Securing a change in the design became a rallying point for Brexit supporters, with the government announcing in December 2017 that the blue passport would return.

'Super-strength'

The government estimates that all newly-issued passports will be blue from the summer.

Until then, they will be issued alongside burgundy passports, which will remain valid for travel until they expire.

The UK burgundy passports carried the wording European Union on the cover, although the Passport Office last year began to issue them without such a description as older stocks ran out.

The blue passports will be made by Gemalto, owned by French firm Thales. However, they will be personalised with the holder's details in the UK.

The back cover will carry an embossment featuring the floral emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The Home Office said the manufacturing carbon footprint of the passports will be reduced to net zero, through projects such as planting trees.

It added the new passport will carry updated security features, including a "super-strength" polycarbonate data page, containing embedded technologies to keep personal data secure, and involve the "most secure printing and design techniques" to combat identity theft and forgery.

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What's in a colour?

According to the Passport Index, 81 countries have blue passports, including Australia, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

Several Caribbean countries also favour them, including Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

In Europe, people from Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina carry blue passports, while it is a popular colour in central and south America - including in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Other nations to have blue passports include Israel, Iraq, Syria and North Korea.

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2020-02-22 11:59:29Z
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