TWO members of the same family have tested positive for coronavirus and are being treated at a hospital in Newcastle.

There are four Airborne High Consequences Infectious Disease Centres (HCIDs) in England which are specially equipped to receive people with illnesses such as coronavirus and the nearest of these to York is in Newcastle.

The BBC is reporting that it is understood the patients were staying in a hotel in Yorkshire, before being taken overnight to the specialist centre in Newcastle.

Two people from same family who have tested positive for coronavirus are understood to have been staying at hotel in Yorkshire: https://t.co/3Ka9e0aFfC pic.twitter.com/5a3Lp2qodD — BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) January 31, 2020

The news comes after an apartment-hotel in York was put on lockdown when a man, understood to be a Chinese national, was taken to hospital after falling ill on Wednesday night.

The man, who was a guest at the Staycity Hotel in the centre of York, was taken to hospital, together with family members, by medics.

But a spokesperson for StayCity York said: "We're talking to Public Health England and they certainly haven't confirmed any of the facts in that the BBC is reporting."

The four HCIDs are Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

In a statement on Friday about the first two confirmed UK cases, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said: "The patients are receiving specialist NHS care, and we are using tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus.

"The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections, and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread.

"We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirusand we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately.

"We are continuing to work closely with the World Health Organisation and the international community as the outbreak in China develops to ensure we are ready for all eventualities."

It comes as ministers said the Government will send another plane to coronavirus-hit Wuhan to rescue British citizens if needed.

Some people wanting to leave the city said they were unable to board the flight as they did not receive information in time from the Foreign Office.

Families had been told that relatives with Chinese passports would be unable to join them after Chinese officials denied them permission to leave the country.

That decision was reversed hours before the plane was due to depart, but some people did not have time to get to the airport.

It's understood the Foreign Office is working with EU countries to add British passengers to any rescue flights they may charter back from Wuhan.

After several delays, the evacuation flight left Wuhan at 9.45am local time on Friday, carrying 83 Britons and 27 non-UK nationals, mostly from EU countries.

The flight is expected to arrive at the Brize Norton RAF base in Oxfordshire at around 1pm, the FCO said.

The evacuation flight came after the UK's four Chief Medical Officers raised the risk level of the illness from low to moderate and the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an international public health emergency.

Chinese health officials said on Friday morning that the death toll in the country from the virus had risen to 213, up from 170 a day earlier, with the number of known cases rising from 7,711 to 9,692.

No deaths have occurred outside China, although 82 cases have been confirmed across 18 countries.

The British passengers on the evacuation flight - who have mainly been in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province - had to sign a contract agreeing to isolation before they could board the flight, and underwent temperature checks.

On arrival, they will be taken by bus to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for a quarantine period of 14 days, where they will be housed in an NHS staff accommodation block with access to the internet.

Anyone with suspicious symptoms will be taken to the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital.