More than 1,400 cases have been confirmed since the global outbreak, centred in the Chinese city of Wuhan, began last month

NHS staff on high alert over a lethal new virus have been issued with instructions on handling bodies and told that victims may pose a “minor risk” even after they die.

The guidance is in an 11-page dossier that was prepared for hospitals by Public Health England (PHE). It emerged as China warned that the spread of the virus was “accelerating” and the UK was poised to evacuate about 200 citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the centre of the illness.

GPs in the UK have been ordered to avoid examining suspected victims and told to keep them in closed rooms.

How China has responded to the crisis

All 31 people so far suspected by the NHS to have the virus have tested negative. However, officials are braced for the first