Doctors who are among those stranded overseas have said they are desperate to return to help their NHS colleagues battle the coronavirus outbreak, but that they have received little help from the Foreign Office (FCO).
Travel restrictions around the globe have left an estimated 1 million British people marooned, with many complaining that their host countries have organised rescue flights for their citizens but the UK has not.
The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, has called for urgent talks with the FCO, saying not enough is being done to repatriate people who cannot get home because there are no flights.
“I think we need a centralised response. I appreciate that the Foreign Office are overwhelmed but there is more they could be doing and we are doing our utmost to hold them to account,” she said.
“We are pushing for a meeting with them urgently to go through the data we have and see where the vulnerable are, who should be prioritised and how do we get people home.”
Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either:
- a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly
NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.
If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days.
If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.
If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.
After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine.
If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal.
If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.
Staying at home means you should:
- not go to work, school or public areas
- not use public transport or taxis
- not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home
- not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home
You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people.
If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do.
Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020
One doctor said: “I am a doctor currently working in one of the busiest A&E departments in the country. I was due to fly home to the UK from Pakistan last night. When I arrived at the airport I was told my flight would be cancelled as they were stopping all international flights with immediate effect.”
He was told there would be no flights for another fortnight at least.
“At a time when doctors are being called out of retirement, and everyone is being asked to pull together and help amidst this crisis, I feel so helpless as I am stranded abroad with no means to come back home,” said the doctor, who asked not to be named.
“We have attempted to contact the British embassy who state they cannot help as they also have no news.”
In New Zealand, which is due to go into lockdown on Wednesday, a group of more than 300 Britons including many health workers are also stranded.
Daisy Ifama Samuel, who is behind a WhatsApp group in New Zealand, said there were older people, ill and pregnant women among the 300 trapped in the country.
Her friend Catherine Dabrowksa said: “The embassy have been absolutely appalling.” They said they went to the offices but came away with a note about washing hands and general health advice.
Also stranded in New Zealand is lawyer Anna Gregg, 28, from Cumbria. She complained her airline, Emirates, the travel insurer and the FCO were each trying to offload responsibility onto the other.
“We can manage, but we’re anxious to be so far away from home, and with no obvious end to any of this. Some people on the WhatsApp group are on their own with little money, others are medics or key workers. We just want to be home, near our families,” Gregg said.
One GP who is there with his wife, who is also a doctor, said he was “trapped” with no way to come back to the UK after travel restrictions were imposed.
He said he tried to contact the consulate by phone and social media, and ended up taking a flight to physically visit the office in Wellington only to be turned away on arrival with nothing but a list of generic websites.
Another said he and his friend had gone out to New Zealand to work for six weeks in the Auckland City hospital and Starship children’s hospital, but were now stuck with no help from the embassy. “Our colleagues are fighting a war back home that we should be helping with,” they said.
Adrienne Newton, 60, a recently retired GP, said she was willing to return to work in the NHS but her flight from Argentina was cancelled and the local embassy could not help.
“They said the airspace was closed; talk to your airline. They did absolutely nothing. Eventually I got through to London,” she said. “The lady I spoke to didn’t ask for our names, how old we were, whether we were in safe accommodation, or what was our health like, she just said sign up for the updates on email, so it was a bit of a surprise to read they were putting on flights to Peru.
“So it seems they can change their minds when they are shamed by the media, but they will leave the rest of us alone. This needs to be a coordinated diplomatic effort. It is not a matter of ringing your airline any more.”
On Saturday the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced the UK was laying on flights for hundreds of Britons stranded in Peru after criticism.
Thornberry wrote to all Labour MPs at the weekend asking them to pass on details of any constituents stranded abroad in an effort to create a centralised database, in the apparent absence of any such initiative by the FCO.
The FCO has been approached for comment.
• This article was amended on 23 March 2020. An earlier version incorrectly placed Wellington on New Zealand’s South Island.
