Coronavirus: UK, France urge citizens to leave China, Belgium has 1st case

More than 20,400 people have been infected with the virus in China and 425 have died

Britain on Tuesday urged all of its citizens in China to leave the country because of the outbreak of a respiratory illness from a new virus, while Belgium became the latest nation to announce a confirmed case.

An updated advisory issued by the U.K. Foreign Office said that while commercial flights remained available from most of mainland China, travel restrictions introduced by the Chinese government to contain the epidemic meant “it may become harder to access departure options over the coming weeks.

If you’re in China and able to leave, you should do so, the advisory said. France also issued an advisory, warning against any non-essential travel to China and suggesting that French citizens who were already there return home. More than 20,400 people have been infected with the virus in China and 425 have died. Two other people have died in the Philippines and Hong Kong and 20 other nations have reported cases.

Belgium, meanwhile, reported its first case of the coronavirus, found in one of the nine citizens who were repatriated from Wuhan over the weekend. The Belgian Health Ministry said the infected individual was in good health and didn’t show any symptoms of the disease. The person was taken to a special hospital for further care while the others remained under observation. Germany confirmed two more cases of the virus: one an employee of an auto parts company that a Chinese colleague visited two weeks ago and the other in a child of an infected company employee who previously had another child test positive.