The Army is poised to march on to our streets – in case deadly Chinese snake flu threatens to paralyse Britain.
Thousands of troops are on standby to prop up essential services and emergency medical care if the killer coronavirus reaches the UK.
On Saturday the death toll hit 41 in China and several more countries confirmed cases of the disease.
These include three in France, which means the virus has travelled nearly 6,000 miles from the city of Wuhan, to just across the Channel.
So far tests on 31 Brits sus-pected of having snake flu – which has an incubation period of up to 14 days – have come back negative. But experts fear its arrival here is inevitable.
Health chiefs, airlines and border force agents are desperately trying to trace 2,000 people who recently travelled between Wuhan and Britain.
And GPs have been told anyone they even suspect of having the virus must immediately be placed in isolation.
A senior defence source said: “At the moment we are playing a waiting game.
“The medical advice is the virus will arrive in the UK soon. But its impact is the big unknown.
“We have to plan for the worst case scenario – that is the virus spreads across the UK and infects a large proportion of the population.
“If that happens troops will be deployed to carry out vital roles, like the transportation of food and fuel. They may also operate fire engines and drive ambulances.
“These are all things troops have done in the past. They could also be used to deal with any civil unrest.”
Under MoD plans, the decision to deploy the Army will be taken at the “highest level”. They also require medical personnel specialising in environmental health and infectious diseases to be put on high alert.
In China more than 1,300 cases of snake flu have been confirmed, but that number is expected to skyrocket.
President Xi Jinping yesterday confirmed the spread of the disease is speeding up. He said: “Faced with the grave situation of an accelerating spread of the new coronavirus...it is necessary to strengthen the centralised and unified leadership.”
As he spoke, builders were rushing to complete a 1,000-patient hospital, dedicated to treating the coronavirus. It is due to open in Wuhan – home to 11million – in just five days.
Tragically the disease has also claimed the life of at least one doctor. Liang Wudong, 62, died of exhaustion on Friday.
A second medic, Jiang Jijun, has also reportedly died from a heart attack, also caused by exhaustion.
Videos filmed in Chinese hospitals show other medics collaps-ing and patients lying on the floor in overcrowded corridors.
Outside the hospitals, streets are deserted as 56million citizens have been warned to stay at home. The lockdown comes just as millions of families gather to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Snake flu, also known as the Wuhan virus, or more officially as 2019-nCoV, can cause severe pneumonia.
It is believed it could have been passed to humans from a wild animal sold at a food market in Wuhan.
As well as France, it has been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Australia, Malaysia and the US – which was last night arranging to fly home about 230 citizens and diplomats from Wuhan today.
The UK’s Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the region and says it is continuing to monitor the situation.
