Life appeared to continue as usual at the University of York yesterday, with students scurrying to the library, supermarket and bar, despite the campus having become the focal point of the unfolding coronavirus outbreak in the UK.

Public Health England confirmed that a student at the university and a relative of theirs had tested positive for the UK’s first cases of the virus.

Joseph, a second-year English student, said he had no serious concerns after hearing the news: “I think the university’s done a really good job of helping people stay calm and giving out the official advice. None of my friends are that concerned either – they’ve even been making jokes, including some puns about corona being a beer. So no, I’m not worried: it seems to have been contained.”

Others felt more apprehensive. “Everyone feels a bit unsettled,” said law student Daniel Williams. “In my house group chat, everyone is legitimately concerned. I live with a few European citizens who aren’t registered with a GP and they are seriously thinking about whether they should go to lectures.” He added that another student with a weakened immune system went straight home because he “didn’t want to take the risk”.

Williams said he had noticed more Asian students were wearing masks on campus but that it was to be expected as “we are all worried, knowing [the virus] is in such close proximity”.

Social policy students Shuo Liu, 25, and Zhaoyuan Wang, 24, said that although they didn’t feel the situation in the UK was that serious compared with China, they wore masks “just in case”. They said they felt people were looking at them differently because they are Chinese. Liu, from Hunan province, said: “People stare at us because we are wearing masks. They think that because we are Chinese we’re carrying it, without thinking about whether we have even been to China recently or not.”

In a statement emailed to students by the university, Public Health England said the affected student “did not come into contact with anyone on campus whilst they had symptoms of the virus”.

But another undergraduate, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It is shocking to know it’s so close. I don’t think we’ve been given enough information. From speaking to friends, there is definitely a touch of panic on campus – exams were only a couple of weeks ago, so this could possibly have already spread further than one student. An awful lot of students including myself will be wary going into lectures on Monday, worried about who may or may not have the virus.”

The two Chinese nationals fell ill at Staycity Aparthotel in York last Wednesday and were taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle the following day by health professionals wearing hazmat suits. The hotel sealed the apartment where the patients had stayed, but the rest of the building has remained open.

Biology student Kate Bunting said it was “quite scary” to learn that the patients had been living at Staycity as it’s close to where she lives. However, the second-year biology student said she and her friends felt some of the media coverage was scaremongering: “I don’t think it’s as scary as it sounds, the fact that there’s a low risk of further contamination gives me some security, and it’s only because it’s here that people find it a bit scary. But nobody I know is changing their behaviour because of it and the uni’s done a good job of updating us throughout the week. It’s just been a normal day on campus, it’s quiet but then it always is on a Saturday.”

In the north-west, where 83 evacuees had travelled from Wuhan to Wirral, Matt Raw and his wife were relieved to be in Arrowe Park hospital on Saturday, on the first day of their mandatory two-week quarantine.

Play Video 1:10 Coronavirus: Brit arrives at Wirral hospital for quarantine after leaving Wuhan – video

“We have all the essentials we need,” he said of their digs, which the couple were sharing with a mother and daughter, in a block next to Wirral University Teaching hospital.

Despite the possibility that he might be infected, Raw was in bright spirits. “There is an army of people here who are looking after us extremely well,” he said.

Residents of Wirral were less enthusiastic at the arrival of the cohort from China on Friday night, despite Public Health England and Wirral University Hospital urging patients to remain calm and attend their appointments as normal.

In Wuhan, one British citizen remained stranded with his wife and family, worried that they would be forgotten by the UK government. Chris Hill, 38, has chosen to remain in the country where he lives with his wife, Caitlyn Gao, and daughter, Renee Gao, who are both Chinese citizens. “My only worry now is after everybody pulls out, the FCO will forget about those who are staying and not give any support for us,” he said. “For British nationals that are staying in Wuhan, but also in China, to have the consulate and embassy evacuating, it’s not a good sight to see really, is it?”

Mr Hill, who is from Sunderland, said he received a call from the FCO on Saturday morning saying he, his wife and daughter would be able to get on an evacuation plane bound for France.

But his wife is unable to leave because she works as a nurse at a hospital and is also unwilling to abandon her parents.

“I am not willing to leave her behind and take my daughter,” Mr Hill said. “It’s either we all go or we all stay in Wuhan, which I told the FCO officer and she was shocked at my answer but respected my choice to not break up the family.”

As of early Sunday morning local time, the total number of cases of coronavirus diagnosed in China stood at 14,380, according to China’s national health commission. In the course of Saturday, 45 more residents died from the disease.