A school and a medical centre have closed in a spa town in Derbyshire after a parent was diagnosed with coronavirus following a trip abroad.
It is believed the parent, from Buxton, Derbyshire, caught the bug while staying at a Tenerife hotel that has since been quarantined with about 168 Britons trapped inside.
Their child's primary school and a medical practice visited by the patient have both closed for deep cleans amid fears that others in Buxton could have been infected.
Burbage Primary School alerted parents and carers in a text message, saying a parent had been diagnosed with the flu-like virus.
Public Health England (PHE) East Midlands said bosses at the school took the decision to close, despite PHE assessing the risk and confirming there was no reason to.
Dr Fu-Meng Khaw, director of PHE East Midlands, said: "We are aware that Burbage Primary School in Buxton has taken the decision to close today.
"My team have spoken to the school, assessed the risk and confirmed that there is currently no information to suggest that there is any increased health risk to any pupils or staff at the school and no public health reason to remain closed at the current time.”
About a mile away, Buxton Medical Practice closed as a precaution, with a voice message telling prospective patients to stay away.
A video on Twitter allegedly shows the patient being whisked away in a convoy of emergency services vehicles at about 11.45pm on Wednesday after being picked up by medics in protective suits.
Have you been affected by coronavirus in Buxton? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.
It came as Public Health England confirmed two more cases in the UK, bringing the total to 15. The other person was in a London hospital after catching the virus in Italy.
In Buxton, it is understood the parent had recently returned to the town of 22,000 from Tenerife after staying at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel, where four Italian tourists tested positive for coronavirus this week.
Britons are among about 800 guests in a 14-day quarantine and there are fears the virus could sweep through the hotel like it did the Diamond Princess cruise ship while it was quarantined in Japan.
Burbage Primary School's head, Anthony Tierney, was on site to speak to concerned parents on Thursday morning. He confirmed that the gates would remain closed for the day.
It is understood the school may not reopen until Monday at the earliest.
Mr Tierney said: "We are shut, it is just a precaution. I can't say anything more at the moment."
Panicked parents took to social media after receiving the bombshell message which was sent out just before 11pm on Wednesday night.
Many complained about the lack of a full explanation as to whether the infected parent had actually been on the school premises.
The school, which has 347 pupils and 49 members of staff, gave no further details about the coronavirus victim.
The message sent to parents and carers read: "Due to a confirmed case of coronavirus amongst our parent population, Burbage Primary School will be closed as a precautionary measure to enable a deep clean to be completed.
“A further update will be shared tomorrow.”
At first some parents thought the message was a hoax, which lead to hundreds of messages on Facebook and Twitter.
But one parent posted: "My daughter goes to the school. I can confirm that the school have put out the message to parents. They have also asked people not to post hysterical messages on social media."
A parent criticised the online speculation, writing on Facebook: "It may be precautionary and the parent may not have been on the premises but has a child at the school who has been exposed to the virus.
"The virus is transmittable before any symptoms are shown so to give no context or further explanation is irresponsible!!"
But another parent replied: "What context is missing? Parent infected, their kids at the school. Virus can infect without symptoms early on. School closes to get cleaned. What's missing?"
A different parent criticised the speculation about the seriousness of the situation before any further details were released.
"I feel for the staff and headmaster who will have to deal with the members of the public who are now worrying over precautionary measures," she wrote.
Another replied: "Why shouldn't they worry? It's contagious before symptoms show. If the parent has it then likely the child/children do also."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Buxton Medical Practice said: "We have a confirmed case of the coronavirus.
"We are liaising with Public Health England and the CCG to ensure all appropriate actions are taken.
"Please do not come to the practice."
The practice later wrote on Facebook: "Just a quick update to say we have talked to Public Health England and their advice is that we should be able to open tomorrow after a deep clean today. We are also advised that there is currently no need for additional testing for patients or staff. Thank you for your patience."
Members of Derbyshire County Council's emergency planning team were called into the authority's headquarters in Matlock early to deal with the issue.
A spokesman for the council said: "We are aware of the reports and are awaiting confirmation from Public Health England.
"We will release further information as soon as we get it."
Local resident Zoe Milly Jones posted video on Twitter showing two paramedic vehicles with their flights flashing as the patient was taken to Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Medics had stopped at a Morrisons petrol station to put on hazmat suits before collecting someone from a property in Buxton.
Ms Jones wrote: "Just followed two ambulances and two response units from Stockport, to Buxton on blue lights in convoy.. where men in Hazmat suits entered a property, and seemingly put someone in an ambulance.
"Then blue light convoyed back to stockport. Could it be #coronavirus in #buxton."
She told Mirror Online: "The first place I saw them, where I took the video was on the A57, in Hollingworth.
"They turned right onto the A57 heading toward Glossop. I followed them the entire way, as it looked suspicious.
"The ambulances stopped on Morrisons' petrol station in Buxton at first.
"Where they changed into white suits. Then they moved onto the house in Buxton, where someone got into the ambulance.
"Then they convoyed back on blue lights again. I followed them all the way back. They went into a loading bay at Liverpool Royal Hospital."
Another resident wrote on Facebook: "Just Seen 6 ambulances in convoy coming from buxton way with lites but driving slow all staff at mask on anybody know why anybody know why."
Hailed as a gateway to the Peak District National Park, Buxton is set in north-west Derbyshire, about 20 miles south-east of Manchester.
Residents were shocked when they found out that someone amongst them was infected with the disease.
Lynne Gracie, who lives close to the primary school, told DerbyshireLive: “The news has left me gobsmacked. My thoughts and sympathy go out to all affected.
"It’s a popular school and has just had new classrooms.
“I don’t mingle with the school community, I don’t have children but I can understand their concerns. It’s a worrying situation.”
Ruth George, who represents Whaley Bridge on Derbyshire County Council, appealed for calm.
She wrote on Facebook: “It’s important that we don’t panic about the coronavirus, but we also need to do all we can to protect people.
“Thank you to Burbage School in Buxton for taking sensible precautions. I hope that parents - and their employers - will understand the need to make sure this highly infectious virus doesn’t get spread.”
Director of Public Health for Derbyshire County Council Dean Wallace said: "I’d like to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains low and Derbyshire County Council is working with health colleagues to do everything we can to stop the virus spreading and ensure the people of Derbyshire are protected."
Public Health England said the UK's two new cases involved a patient who returned from Tenerife and a second who had been in Italy, where 14 people have died amid the worst contagion in Europe.
Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty said: "Two further patients in England have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of UK cases to 15.
"The virus was passed on in Italy and Tenerife and the patients have been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres in Royal Liverpool Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital, London."
So far in the UK more than 7,000 people have been tested for the virus and of the 15 to have tested positive, eight have so far been discharged from hospital.
About 20 schools have closed for at least one day this week and around 30 others - including Prince George's in south London - have sent some staff and students home to self-isolate.
In most cases, it is because pupils and staff recently returned from ski trips in northern Italy's "red zone".
Prince George and Princess Charlotte's primary school, Thomas's Battersea, has sent pupils home as a precautionary measure following trips to northern Italy.
But schools and businesses have been urged not to overreact.
Public Health England said that its general advice is not to close schools - a message echoed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Guidance was sent to UK employers telling them staff who are asked to self-isolate are entitled to take sick leave.
Coronavirus has been spreading across Europe this week, with Italy becoming the epicentre with more than 500 people infected and 14 dead.
The northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto have been locked down.
Travellers returning to the UK from northern Italy were told they may need to self-isolate as part of measures to stop the spread of illness.
No plans to rescue Brits
Elsewhere, the Foreign Office denied there were any plans to evacuate around 168 Britons who remain in the coronavirus-hit hotel H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in Tenerife.
However, it has arranged for written messages to be put under the doors of the rooms of British guests asking them to get in contact.
Some Britons who are trapped at the hotel for two weeks have now begged Boris Johnson to send a plane to rescue them.
About 800 guests from 25 countries are stuck there during the quarantine.
Disease specialists have said the new coronavirus cases are "not surprising" and the UK should expect more infected patients without direct China links as the virus continues its spread in Europe.
Experts re-emphasised there is "no due cause for alarm" and said the most important act for individuals is regular, thorough hand-washing and immediately binning tissues which have been coughed and sneezed on.
Professor Rowland Kao, chairman of veterinary epidemiology and data science at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We already have evidence of onward transmission occurring outside of China and so these two cases - associated with situations with high levels of infections - are not surprising.
"This occurrence should therefore already be well within the scope of the current approach to control.
"It does highlight that we should continue to expect more cases without direct association with China, and therefore, despite evidence of the epidemic tailing off in China, a need for continued vigilance with appropriate control measures for some time."
Oxford University professor Christl Donnelly said she estimated there could be more than 1,000 cases in Italy - more than double the 470 confirmed so far - as research suggests around 1 per cent of infections are fatal. There have been 12 deaths in Italy.
The academic, also of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling at Imperial College London, added: "Each undetected case creates at least the potential for onward spread.
"This combined with frequent travel to and from affected regions means that all countries are at risk of detecting cases both in travellers and those they came into contact with."
Dr Tom Wingfield, senior clinical lecturer at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: "There are likely to be some more cases in the coming weeks but the UK public can be reassured that we have experienced teams in place to manage the isolation and care of people diagnosed with coronavirus and perform robust tracing and screening of their contacts.
"We are all, public and professionals, part of this response to coronavirus and what we can do to continue looking after each other is keep calm, wash our hands with soap and water as regularly as possible, use and bin tissues for coughs and sneezes, and follow the changing guidance issued from Public Health England."
Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Given the regular transport links at this time of year between and the UK and northern Italy and Tenerife, these new cases are not surprising.
"The patients have been isolated and the hope is that their contacts will be traced promptly to prevent further spread of the virus.
"There is no due cause for alarm and the current government guidelines and recommendations remain the same."
NOTE: A previous headline of this article reported that Buxton was on lockdown. In fact, a school and a medical practise had been closed, and not the whole town. We are happy to clarify this.
