Britain is sending the military to rescue UK citizens from the epicentre of China's coronavirus outbreak - and they will be quarantined for two weeks when they arrive.
Anyone showing signs of infection will be left behind in Wuhan, where a repatriation flight was grounded by Chinese authorities before it was due to take off on Thursday for RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The flight will now depart Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province, at 5am local time on Friday morning (9pm Thursday in the UK).
Government minister Nick Gibb said it will land at a military base in the UK and the passengers will be taken to an NHS facility.
Britain is isolating the evacuees for 14 days due to fears that some could be carrying the SARS-like virus without showing any symptoms.
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The evacuation was due to begin on Thursday, but Britain was forced to delay it for at least a day because it had not yet got the correct permissions from Chinese authorities for a flight to leave, even though the US and Japan have already carried out rescue flights.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January.
"The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need."
Earlier, Mr Gibb, the schools standards minister, told Sky News that "discussions are happening" between the Foreign Office and the Chinese Government to "resolve difficult issues".
He said he believed the plane will be crewed by RAF personnel with a number of medics onboard.
"They will be coming to a military base in the UK, then they will go to an NHS facility for 14 days," he added.
It is understood the Britons will have to sign a contract agreeing the two-week quarantine.
Jeff Siddle, from Northumberland, and his nine-year-old daughter face being separated from his wife, a Chinese national who has been told she cannot leave the country.
Mr Siddle told he BBC that he and his daughter were told they could fly back to the UK but his wife, who has permanent residency in the UK, must remain in China.
Several other families with a British parent in Wuhan are in similar situations.
Mr Siddle said the repatriation flight was pushed back to Friday.
He said of his wife: "I think there's still negotiations to get that changed, but the official line is still that she can't fly."
He added: "We've been told we're only allowed one hand luggage item, so we've basically had to virtually ditch all of our big suitcases and all of our holiday clothes and take just what we think we absolutely need.
"We're living out of what we can, with all our bags packed."
The outbreak has killed at least 170 people in China and infected more than 7,700 others, mostly in Wuhan and Hubei, but the flu-like virus has spread around the world.
China recorded its biggest single-day jump in deaths on Thursday, with the toll increasing by 38.
Infections have been reported in more than 15 other countries - including France, Germany, the US, Canada and Australia - with 104 confirmed cases.
But no deaths have occurred outside China, where the virus has now spread to every region in the country.
There have been no confirmed cases in Britain, where more than 100 people have tested negative for novel coronavirus, a new strain which emerged in late December.
The US and Japan are among the countries who have already evacuated diplomats and citizens living in Hubei.
Nearly 200 Americans, mostly diplomats and families airlifted from Wuhan on Wednesday will remain isolated at a US military base in California for at least 72 hours, officials said.
A second flight is due to depart "on or about" February 3, the US said.
A second flight with Japanese evacuees from Wuhan landed in Japan on Thursday with nine people showing symptoms of fever or coughing, broadcaster NHK reported.
Home to 60million people, Hubei is under virtual lockdown, with flights grounded, public transport halted and checkpoints set up on motorways and roads to test drivers and passengers for the virus.
Residents and visitors - including hundreds of Britons - have been prevented from leaving the region as China desperately tries to prevent the virus from spreading.
Russia closed its border with China and barred Chinese nationals from applying for visas as countries around the world increased travel restrictions.
British Airways has temporarily suspended flights between the UK and China.
The virus spread to people who worked at or visited a live wild animal market in Wuhan late last month.
Like other respiratory infections, it is transmitted between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes.
It has an incubation of between one and 14 days, and there are signs it may spread before symptoms show.
There is no vaccine and the number of cases has already surpassed those of SARS, a different type of coronavirus, which killed more than 800 people during an outbreak in 2002 and 2003.
The Philippines confirmed its first case on Thursday, saying a 38-year-old Chinese woman, who arrived in the country from Wuhan on January 21, had tested positive for coronavirus.
