One of Britain’s nine confirmed coronavirus cases attended a Westminster bus conference just a stone’s throw from Parliament, it was revealed today.
The virus-carrier was reportedly one of 250 delegates at the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre on February 6, whose star speaker was Boris Johnson’s Buses Minister, Baroness Vere of Norbiton.
MailOnline understands the coronavirus patient who attended the conference was not the most recent case – a Chinese woman took an Uber to A&E at Lewisham Hospital in south London on Sunday night.
The patient’s presence in central London at a packed conference will spark fears among the hundreds of people there from the transport industry amid growing public anxiety about the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Doctors have warned London’s status as a transport hub could exacerbate the spread of the highly contagious illness which can survive on door knobs and train handrails for hours and spreads via people’s breath.
The summit’s speakers included Baroness Vere, who posed with an all-electric bus outside the QEII Centre, which is around 100 yards from Westminster Underground Station.
Also in attendance were David Brown, chief executive of bus company Go-Ahead, Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and Gareth Powell, head of Transport for London’s bus network.
Last night it emerged that more than 750 British patients were tested for coronavirus in one day as panic over the outbreak intensified across the country. Almost 65,000 patients around the world have now caught the virus and nearly 1,400 have died.
READ ALSO: More Than 1,700 Medical Workers In China Infected With Coronavirus
Other developments in the coronavirus outbreak today include:
China reported another spike in deaths and cases yesterday with 121 succumbing to the virus and 5,090 people catching it
The family of eight-month-old James Adlam, from Worthing, West Sussex, will find out today if the toddler has coronavirus
As many as eight planes were grounded on the runway at Heathrow after passengers were suspected of having the illness
More than 1,700 frontline medics were infected with coronavirus in Wuhan yesterday as health bosses grapple with shortage of masks and protective gear
Top scientists have ruled out the coronavirus was engineered, dispelling rumours the virus had escaped from a lab
Dentists in the UK are set to run out of face masks by next week because panic buying from manufacturers in China
The Church of England will incorporate precautions at services to reduce the risk of infection – including refraining from shaking hands and sharing food and drink
Amazon and eBay have been cashing in on the coronavirus outbreak with comedy T-shirts making fun of the crisis.
