The first coronavirus case has been confirmed in London - the ninth person to be diagnosed with the illness in the UK.

The patient - believed to be a Chinese national who flew into London - is being treated at a specialist NHS centre at Guy's and St Thomas' in the capital.

Confirming the UK's ninth case, Professor Chris Witty, chief medical officer for England, said the virus had been passed on in China.

In other developments:

Deaths from the disease caused by the coronavirus, named COVID-19 , passed 1,100; with more than 45,000 people infected worldwide

, passed 1,100; with more than 45,000 people infected worldwide Two prisoners being tested for coronavirus in Oxfordshire - including one who had recently transferred from a Thai jail - have come back negative

- have come back negative The Chinese Grand Prix due to take place in Shanghai on 19 April has been cancelled

due to take place in Shanghai on 19 April has been cancelled The Mobile World Congress tech conference in Barcelona has also been cancelled after several major companies pulled out

The only two deaths outside mainland China remain one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines

A businessman at the centre of the UK outbreak of coronavirus has said he is "happy to be home" after being discharged from hospital.


Steve Walsh, thought to be a "superspreader" of the disease, was treated at the specialist infectious diseases unit at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, but has now been given the all-clear.

The 53-year-old scout leader, from Hove in East Sussex, contracted coronavirus on a business trip to Singapore - and is linked to five other people diagnosed with it in the UK.

Image: Steve Walsh has been discharged from hospital. Pic: Servomex

Meanwhile, the quarantine of 83 people being held in Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, is expected to be lifted amid reports they have all tested negative for the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus.

All of those in quarantine were flown back from China and taken directly to the hospital after arriving in the UK on 31 January.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the "quarantine is expected to end tomorrow" but declined to comment on the test results of the patients.

In Brighton, pupils at several schools have been told they could stay at home after reports that some teachers and families feared they had come into contact with the virus.

Of the nine people so far diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK, two are GPs.

Officials know that the pair worked at a nursing home, Worthing Hospital A&E and two GP practices between them.

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Public Health England (PHE) confirmed on Wednesday it has traced and advised all close contacts of the two GPs, including about 12 patients.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has cautioned that while the number of newly confirmed cases reported in China has stabilised, it remains a threat.

"This outbreak could still go in any direction," director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing on Wednesday.

A vaccine could be ready for human trials in three months from now, the briefing was told.