TWO Labour MPs are self-isolating over coronavirus fears after going to a London bus conference attended by an infected patient.
Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds NW, tweeted earlier today he being tested as one of 250 people who may have come into contact with the killer bug.
The infected person is said to have visited the UK Bus Summit in Westminster on February 6 where Boris Johnson’s Buses Minister, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, was star speaker.
Mr Sobel wrote he has cancelled all engagements for 14 days until he is clear, adding: “*Statement* As has been reported by @harry_horton
I attended the UK bus summit on the 6th Feb, where there was an attendee who has tested positive for coronavirus.
“Whilst I have been informed that I am at very low risk, I have called 111 to be formally assessed.”
And another Labour MP who went to the conference, Lillian Greenwood, today said she is cancelling all her public engagements and is at home to be “extra cautious”.
Mr Sobel told Sky News: “Because I’m an MP, and so for instance right now should be at surgery with constituents, we thought a reasonable precaution would be to self isolate.
“So I’m taking reasonable measures to isolate myself until next Wednesday evening.”
He said he would keep himself busy with work-related reading and writing and watching Netflix as he isolates himself in his home office.
There is now growing panic the patient could have infected any of the hundreds of people who attended the packed conference at the QEII centre.
It is also not clear whether she took a taxi or a Tube to the talk – sparking fears more Londoners could have been exposed to the virus, which has killed 1,384 people.
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It is understood the person is the not the Chinese woman who hopped in an Uber and arrived at Lewisham Hospital in a huge breach of public health advice.
Transport Times, who organised the conference, were reportedly forced to fire out emails to attendees warning them that a visitor was one of Britain’s nine virus cases.
The email included a letter from Public Health England (PHE) that told the delegates to self-isolate, avoid contact with others and call the NHS helpline if they developed symptoms, according to FT.
It said: “While the degree of contact you may have had with the case at the summit is unlikely to have been significant, we are taking a precautionary approach and informing you.”
Among the conference guests were MPs and directors of national transport operators.
Speakers included Baroness Vere, David Brown, Chief Executive of bus company Go-Ahead, Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and Gareth Powell, head of Transport for London’s bus network.
It comes as a United Airlines flight was held at Heathrow Airport this morning amid fears a passenger had the coronavirus.
The airline confirmed a person had fallen ill after the flight landed from San Francisco but other travellers say they have now disembarked the plane after filling out a form.
Passenger Andy West told Mail Online the traveller was taken to the back of the plane while everyone else was told they would be contacted if they would be contacted if it is thought they are at risk.
The authorities have refused to make clear any details on the infected patient who went to Westminster – including where they live and where they have travelled from.
PHE is now said to be rushing to contact people who may have had contact with the infected conference attendee.
Transport Times told the FT it was “working closely with Public Health England, following their advice closely, and have distributed a letter of guidance from PHE to all attendees”.
It comes after the Chinese woman was revealed to be the first person in London to be diagnosed with coronavirus, on Wednesday.
Two hospital workers are now in isolation at home after coming into contact with the woman.
Uber says it has temporarily suspended the account of the driver “out of an abundance of caution”.
Meanwhile a GP surgery in north London has now closed for the day “due to the coronavirus”.
The closure of Ritchie Street Health Centre in Islington is not thought to be related to the cases in Lewisham.
It comes as the number of people tested for coronavirus in England surged by almost 800 overnight, from 1,758 to 2,521.
The chief executive of the NHS today warned that many more people in the UK may need to self-isolate in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Sir Simon Stevens issued the warning as more than 80 people quarantined at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral left following 14 days in isolation.
The group were the first to be flown out of Wuhan city in China – the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak – by the Foreign Office and back to the UK.
Earlier, England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said officials were working on delaying the spread of coronavirus cases throughout the UK.
He said what happens with coronavirus – officially known as Covid-19 – could go one of two ways, with the first scenario seeing the Chinese government getting on top of the epidemic and it then having a limited impact on the rest of the world.
While it is “highly likely” the UK will see more cases, it is possible the epidemic will go away, possibly aided by a change in the seasons which could dampen the spread of the virus, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Prof Whitty said: “The alternative is that it’s not possible to contain in China and this then starts (to spread) – probably initially quite slowly – around the world and then unless the seasons come to our rescue, then it is going to come to a situation where we have it in Europe and the UK in due course.”
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