Government can now forcibly quarantine people with coronavirus

The government can now forcibly quarantine people with coronavirus.

Announcing new legal powers on Monday the Department of Health said patients would not be free to leave and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat to public health.

It is understood that the decision was in response to one of the Britons who returned from Wuhan in China attempting to leave isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside.

A Government source said "there was someone who was threatening to abscond from Arrowe Park", despite all the Britons who returned on the evacuation flight signing a contract agreeing to a 14-day quarantine period, which ends this Thursday.

Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, where British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China are being quarantined (PA)

However, there have been concerns about whether those contracts are legally enforceable, leading to the new regulations.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Our infection control procedures are world leading and the NHS is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus.

"We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public.

Two of the eight people in the UK being treated for the new coronavirus were taken to Newcastle's RVI (Getty Images)

"This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has introduced the new powers in light of the "public health emergency" from coronavirus, originating in Wuhan in China.

A statement says: "In accordance with Regulation 3, the Secretary of State declares that the incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus."

Arrowe Park Hospital and Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes, both of which are housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, are now designated "isolation facilities", according to the Government.

On Monday, a further four people had tested positive for the virus in England bringing the total up to eight.