British citizens flying back on Sunday from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, will be quarantined at a facility in Milton Keynes, Sky News understands.

It came as the UK stepped up its preparation for coronavirus, with the number of laboratories which can test for the deadly disease being increased from one to 12 in the coming weeks.

Earlier, a British man on board a cruise ship has been diagnosed with the coronavirus while on his honeymoon.

The flight arriving Sunday will be the third one that has brought Britons to the UK from Wuhan in recent days.

The first plane, carrying 83 UK evacuees, arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 31 January before they were taken into quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a fortnight.


Another 11 British nationals were on a second plane that flew back to the military base on 2 February. Ten were then taken to the same NHS site to be quarantined, while the 11th went to a different hospital as they were unwell on the flight.

Image: The first plane brought Britons back to the UK from Wuhan on 31 January

Meanwhile, Alan Steele, a passenger on the Diamond Princess which is quarantined off the coast of Japan, said he had contracted the illness and was being taken to hospital.

Image: Alan Steele with his wife on their wedding day

"Just to let you all know I have been diagnosed as having the virus and am being shipped to hospital," he wrote on Facebook.

"[I] would also like to say that at the moment I am not showing any symptoms so just possible (sic) a carrier.

"Will let you know how I am going on when possible."

Image: A total of 61 people who were on the ship have been diagnosed with coronavirus

The news came as:

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 636, with more than 31,000 people infected globally

Public Health England's stepped up preparations will increase testing capacity to more than 1,000 people a day

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against the spreading epidemic

The head of the WHO said a drop in the number of new virus cases for two days is "good news" but warned "the numbers could go up again"

Hong Kong said it may jail or fine anyone who fails to observe the two-week quarantine for arrivals from mainland China

A doctor who tried to warn others about the coronavirus outbreak in December died from the infection.

Doctor killed by coronavirus 'a symbol of transparency'

Mr Steele, 58, told the Washington Post he married his wife Wendy last month - and the couple from Wolverhampton had been celebrating with a cruise on the Diamond Princess.

Mrs Steele, a 51-year-old nurse, told the paper that her husband was due to start a new job on 10 February.

"I have demanded that they test me," she said. "I will not be separated from Alan."

Image: Around 3,700 passengers and crew are being kept on the ship

The ship's operator Princess Cruises said a total of 61 people on board, including the one Briton, had tested positive for coronavirus.

Twenty of those infected passengers have been escorted off the luxury cruise liner for further treatment.

British passenger David Abel said he had been dining with Mr Steele before his diagnosis.

In a video on Facebook, he added: "He will almost certainly be leaving the ship today - real, real shame.

Briton describes cruise quarantine

"I have no idea how he must be feeling... they're on their honeymoon.

"He will be going off in to quarantine in a medical facility and she has to stay on board the ship because she's not displaying symptoms.

"That's going to be really, really tough for him so just bear a thought for these passengers who just don't know what is going to be lying ahead of them."

About 3,700 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess are being kept at the port city of Yokohama, about 25 miles from Tokyo.

Many have been consigned to their cabins, with one stranded tourist comparing the atmosphere to a "floating prison".

Princess Cruises said the quarantine on the ship is due to end on 19 February, barring "unforeseen developments".

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Of the 41 people who have most recently tested positive for the coronavirus, 21 are Japanese, eight American, five Canadian, five Australian, one Argentinian and one British.

The latest British case of the coronavirus comes after a third person in the UK was diagnosed with the illness, and is believed to have caught it in Singapore.

It is understood the man called the NHS 111 number and he was given clinical advice after self isolating.

The man was then told to go to his local hospital in Brighton, who were expecting his arrival, and he was then transferred to St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Two people in York have also been diagnosed with the virus - one of them is a student at the University of York, while the other is related to them.

They are being treated at a specialist hospital unit in Newcastle.