Two people in England have been infected with the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, British medical authorities said Friday.

These are the first such cases in the UK.

"We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus," Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England said.

More than 20 countries worldwide have now seen cases of the rapidly-spreading virus.

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Two people in the UK have been infected with the Wuhan coronavirus, medical authorities said Friday, the first cases of the virus in the country.

"We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus," Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England said in a statement.

"The patients are receiving specialist NHS care, and we are using tried and tested infection control procedures to prevent further spread of the virus."

"We are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread," Whitty added.

Sky News reported that the patients are being treated in Newcastle upon Tyne, a city in the north east of England, close to the Scottish border.

It is not known if the patients had recently been in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated.

The news comes hours before the UK expects to receive a plane containing 83 Britons from Wuhan. The plane is to land on the Wirral, in northwest England, and the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days.

A map showing the location of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. Google Maps

The virus, officially known as 2019-nCoV, spreads from human to human, and has infected some people who had not traveled to Wuhan recently.

It has now spread to at least 20 countries worldwide. The vast majority of cases are in China, with almost 10,000 people in the country infected, and over 200 dead.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on Thursday.