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Home secretary Priti Patel has said Public Health England has a hub in Heathrow as the government works to negate the risk of the coronavirus to Britons.
Ms Patel said the government is doing “its utmost” to protect British citizens while she also reiterated that there had been no confirmed cases of the virus in Britain.
“There have been flights to and from China, Public Health England have their own hub at Heathrow Airport,” she told Sky.
“This is a fast moving situation.”
Amid reports that citizens in the region of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus is believed to have originated, could be airlifted Ms Patel said the government was weighing up “all options”.
She would not confirm any concrete plans.
“It is right that we look at all options and that’s exactly what the Government is doing right now,” she told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.
Wuhan, China: Coronavirus – In pictures
1/16
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
2/16
Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
3/16
Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
4/16
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
5/16
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
6/16
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
7/16
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
8/16
A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
9/16
Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
10/16
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
11/16
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
12/16
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
13/16
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
14/16
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
15/16
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
16/16
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
1/16
A woman and a child wearing protective masks walk toward check-in counters at Daxing international airport in Beijing
AFP via Getty Images
2/16
Staff move bio-waste containers past the entrance of the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a new virus are being treated, in Wuhan, China
AP
3/16
Workers driving excavators at the construction site of a field hospital In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The builders will complete the 1,000-bed hospital by February 3 to cope with the surge of 2019-nCoV patients in the city
Getty Images
4/16
Medical staff transfer a patient suspected of having the new coronavirus at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong
Reuters
5/16
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau
AFP via Getty Images
6/16
A Chinese passenger checked for a fever by a health worker at a Beijing railway station
Getty Images
7/16
An employee works to prevent a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
8/16
A policeman wearing a mask walks past a quarantine notice about the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China at an arrival hall of Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
9/16
Excavators at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province. – China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken hundreds of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo b
AFP via Getty Images
10/16
An employee sprays disinfectant on a train as a precaution against a new coronavirus at Suseo Station in Seoul, South Korea
AP
11/16
Medical staff carry a box as they walk at the Jinyintan hospital
Reuters
12/16
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo, or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under an electron microscope
CDC/Dr Fred Murphy
13/16
The resident wear masks to buy vegetables in the market in Wuhan
Getty Images
14/16
Staff sell masks at a Yifeng Pharmacy in Wuhan
AP
15/16
Masked workers disinfect a passenger throughfare at the Taoyuan International Airport
AFP via Getty Images
16/16
A rescue worker walks past a notice about the virus that has broken out in China
Reuters
Reports suggested the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has ordered officials to examine the logistics for an airlift from the city.
Britons trapped in the Chinese province at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak have been urged to leave the area if they are able to do so.
The Foreign Office updated its guidance to “advise against all travel to Hubei province”, which has been on lockdown for several days as China seeks to contain the illness.
The guidance also added: “If you are in this area and able to leave, you should do so. This is due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak.”
As of Saturday afternoon, 31 people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had been tested for the deadly flu-like virus, but all tests have come back negative, according to the Department of Health.
In China, 56 people have died as a result of the virus.
