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A plane passenger who recently landed at Gatwick Airport has been diagnosed with coronavirus and those who sat near him have been informed.

Public Health England (PHE) has urgently contacted all passengers seated in the vicinity of the customer who landed on January 28, as the government desperately attempts to halt the spread of the virus.

The man had flown from Geneva to Gatwick on an easyJet flight, and is understood to be the same man who was reported as having been diagnosed in Brighton, East Sussex, recently.

Four more patients in England have tested positive for Wuhan novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight, PHE revealed on Monday (February 10).

The new cases are all known contacts of the Brighton man; the virus was passed on in France, PHE said.

An easyJet spokesman said on Monday (February 10): "We have been notified by PHE that a customer who had recently travelled on one of [our] flights has since been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

"PHE has contacted all passengers who were seated in the vicinity of the customer on flight EZS8481 from Geneva to London Gatwick on January 28 to provide guidance in line with procedures.

"We remain in contact with the public health authorities and are following their guidance. The health and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is the airline's highest priority.

"Although the risk to others on board the flight is very low, crew who operated the flight have been advised to monitor their health for a 14-day period since the flight in line with PHE advice. The original flight was 13 days ago and none are displaying any symptoms."

The four new patients diagnosed with the virus have been transferred to specialist NHS centres at Guy's and St Thomas' and The Royal Free hospitals, as the government continues to use robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus.

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A PHE spokesman 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."

Gatwick Airport has been contacted for further comment on the incident.