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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Mikey Smith

UK government urges all British nationals to leave China over coronavirus

British nationals in China have been urged to leave the country over the outbreak of coronavirus.

And the UK has been allocated 14 seats on an Air New Zealand flight out of China today, for use by Brits and their families.

In a statement, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "The safety and security of British people will always be our top priority.

"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.

"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."

The British Government has been "allocated 14 places on an Air New Zealand fight today for UK nationals and their dependants", Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said as he answered questions from MPs about the situation in Wuhan.

(PA)

Speaking during Commons Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs questions, he said: "In fairness we've seen 83 British nationals repatriated on Friday, another seven British nationals and four dependants evacuated on a French flight that returned to the UK on Sunday and I can tell (him) that we have also been allocated 14 places on an Air New Zealand fight today for UK nationals and their dependants."

The Foreign Office continue to advise against all but essential travel to mainland China.

And they say commercial airline options for departing China remain available throughout the country, except in Hubei Province.

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