Sign up to FREE email alerts from KentLive - Daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Fears the coronavirus had spread to Dover were sparked yesterday when a patient turned up a Buckland hospital with a suspected case of the flu, it has emerged.

Kent Live understands the person had to be put into isolation before being transferred to the William Harvey Hospital.

It is thought these infection-control measures sparked concerns a person had contracted the deadly virus which is spreading across the globe like wildfire.

But sources have since confirmed the patient did not present with symptoms of the coronavirus and they were not even tested for the illness.

Buckland hospital was open as normal yesterday and still is today.

The closest case of confirmed conoravirus is just 30 miles from Kent in Brighton, where a man is thought to have infected at least 11 people.

There are eight confirmed cases of conoravirus in England and the risk to the public has been raised from low to moderate.

(Image: AP)

As of yesterday (February 10), a total of 1,114 people have been tested, of which 1,106 were confirmed negative and 8 positive.

Professor Chris Whitty said: "Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases.

"They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided.

"The patients have been transferred to specialist NHS centres at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and The Royal Free hospitals, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus.

"The NHS is extremely well prepared to manage these cases and treat them, and we are working quickly to identify any further contacts these patients have had."

KentLive: We have Kent covered Do you want to stay up to date with everything that's happening across the county with KentLive? Here's the link to our main Facebook page where we share our latest stories, including anything from breaking news to features, court coverage and much, much more. For What's On content such as the latest openings, events, and shopping news see here. And we have a specialist Facebook group covering traffic and travel across the south east, where we provide the latest updates from any incidents on the roads or trains. You can also follow KentLive on Twitter here, as well as on our Instagram page where we share great pictures of Kent. For a round-up of the day's top stories direct to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter here.

What is coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world.

Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

Novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China.

Current advice remains that if you have travelled from Wuhan or Hubei Province to the UK in the last 14 days you should you should stay indoors, avoid contact with others and call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the area.

If you have returned to the UK from any other parts of China or areas listed in the link above in the last 14 days and develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath, you should immediately stay indoors, avoid contact with others and call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel.