FOREIGN Secretary Dominic Raab is drawing up emergency plans to evacuate more than 200 Britons stuck in Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus epidemic in China.

The Government previously said it would leave Brits in Wuhan to prevent the virus spreading to the UK.

11 Two doctors have died trying to fight the outbreak in China Credit: Alamy Live News

11 People wore face masks in London's Gerrard Street as they celebrated Chinese New Year Credit: 2020 Mark Thomas / i-Images

11 Chinese New Year celebrations were cancelled in Beijing due to the outbreak Credit: EPA

11 Footage has allegedly shown a dead body underneath a white sheet in hospital in Wuhan

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However, they concluded that keeping expats there could be a "death sentence".

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has ordered officials to explore the possibility of an airlift.

A source said: "a number of things need to fall into place on the Chinese side before we can make any firm promises".

Tests were carried out yesterday on 17 new patients feared to have coronavirus in Britain.

It brought the total number of cases of the Chinese virus suspected in the UK to 31.

Government health officials last night said none of the results had proved positive — but there are confirmed cases across the Channel in France.

And an urgent search was still going on for 2,000 people who have flown to the UK from the worst-hit region of China.

HORRIFYING VIDEOS

Meanwhile, an emergency evacuation squad was on standby to rescue Brits stuck there under lockdowns.

Two doctors died trying to fight the outbreak, which has now claimed 56 lives there and infected around 2,000 globally.

One, retired Liang Wudong, 62, had been drafted in to battle the virus but was killed nine days after catching it.

Horrifying videos from overrun Chinese hospitals, show medics collapsing and patients slumped on floors.

And President Xi Jinping warned at an emergency summit the untreatable new coronavirus was “accelerating”.

The city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, is on lockdown with its 11million inhabitants unable to leave on the country’s New Year’s Day when streets would usually be packed with revellers.

Commuters pass through a train station in Beijing where precautions have been taken to stop the virus spreading Credit: AFP or licensors

People in London's Chinatown were seen wearing face masks Credit: London News Pictures

A flight from Wuhan arriving at Heathrow is cancelled yesterday Credit: EPA

Passengers arrive wearing face masks at Heathrow Credit: EPA

Emergency services wearing masks and protective clothing tend to an individual who appeared to collapse on the street in Wuhan

Experts have predicted up to 350,000 among Wuhan’s population could become infected within days.

It is said the illness could kill two out of every 100 people who catch it — putting it on a par with the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak in which up to 50million died.

Residents in Wuhan and other cities said they were suffering a “doomsday” nightmare.

Authorities have vowed to build a 1,000-bed hospital in just six days to ease pressure on doctors.

At least 13 other Chinese cities are in lockdown, quarantining some 56million people in an area bigger than the size of the UK.

It is believed to be the biggest human quarantine in history, and transport links to 18 cities in the Hubei province have been halted.

ONLY A MATTER OF TIME

Major tourist destinations including part of the Great Wall of China have also been closed down.

The killer flu, believed to have been transmitted from snakes to humans at a market in Wuhan, has now definitely hit Europe, with France reporting three cases.

And the cross-Channel development has sparked fears it is only a matter of time before the infection is confirmed in the UK.

Revellers celebrating the Lunar New Year gathered in London’s Chinatown wearing face masks. And at Heathrow Airport on Friday, a taxi driver was seen wearing a surgical mask, protective gloves and sunglasses as he arrived to pick up Chinese passengers who had flown in from Guangzhou.

Meanwhile, Border Force agents are continuing to try to track down some 2,000 people who have flown into the UK from Wuhan in the past two weeks. Health officials said they were trying to find “as many passengers as we can”.

A Chicago woman in her 50s became the second US patient to test positive and is quarantined after returning from China. The US was also arranging a charter flight to bring back 230 citizens and diplomats from Wuhan.

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11 Supermarket shelves in Wuhan are bare as residents scramble to stockpile goods Credit: Getty Images - Getty

11 Wuhan residents buying goods in the supermarket as the city was put on lockdown Credit: Getty Images - Getty

11 This image shows the roadblocks that have been put in place in Wuhan to stop people from leaving the city where the virus outbreak is believed to have started Credit: Twitter

11 Medical staff tending to a patient at the The Central Hospital Of Wuhan Credit: Reuters

Australia announced that a Chinese man in his 50s had returned from the country last Sunday with the virus, but is in a stable condition in a Melbourne hospital.

Cases have also been discovered in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Coronavirus symptoms include tiredness, difficulty breathing, high temperature and a cough — but it can take three days to kick in after being infected. Foreign nationals living in Wuhan fear they will become infected if they are not allowed to leave. One said: “Due to the lockdown, we all are trapped.

“Several international students and workers have families here. I also have a baby. The situation is very serious here. If they keep everyone inside Wuhan, I am afraid we all shall get infected.”

One British man who travelled to Wuhan to visit his girlfriend is stuck after his return flight was cancelled and described trying to get out of the area as “impossible”.

The 29-year-old, who did not want to be named, complained: “I’ve also had no help from the UK Embassy in Beijing who are conveniently closed for the weekend.”

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The Department for Health said last night: “As of January 25, a total of 31 UK tests have concluded, of which 31 were confirmed negative and none positive.

"There are currently no confirmed cases in the UK or of UK citizens abroad, and the risk to the public is low.”

But England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said there was a “fair chance” cases will emerge in Britain.

BRIT MASKS RUSH BRIT stores have seen an unprecedented demand for surgical face masks. A worker at Superdrug in London’s Paddington said: “We’ve had 50 people asking for surgical masks today and we don’t stock them.” At the Bristo Square pharmacy at the University of Edinburgh, staff sold around 1,000 to Chinese students — a year’s supply — and had to ship in more from Ireland. A woman in Cambridge, where Wuhan College students visited Jesus College on an enrichment programme, was scouring the area for protective equipment. She tweeted: “I couldn’t find ‘regular’ face masks at Boots near me, so I’m gonna have to use these heavy duty lab masks on the plane.” Lloyds Pharmacy said: “The few places that stock them have already sold out.”

Distressing video filmed inside Wuhan hospital shows traumatic scenes as China Coronavirus overcomes staff and patients