A flight to evacuate British nationals from the Chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak is due to take off tonight, hours after the World Health Organisation declared a global health emergency.
The illness has infected nearly 8,000 people while the death toll has risen to 170, an escalation that the WHO's Director-General described as "unprecedented".
The announcement prompted the four chief medical officers of the UK to increase the risk level of coronavirus from low to moderate, even though they “do not think the risk to individuals in the UK has changed”.
Tonight's flight, which will have military medics on board, will land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday morning. Passengers will then be taken to an NHS facility on the Wirral for a quarantine period of 14 days.
Follow our live updates below...
