The United Kingdom raised its public health threat level in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The U.K. Department of Health and Social Care announced on Monday that the coronavirus poses a “serious and imminent threat to public health” and activated emergency protocols that allow health officials to quarantine patients to prevent the spread of the virus forcibly.
The coronavirus broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan last month and has since spread to over 20 countries worldwide. Europe has recorded 43 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including eight in the U.K.
The British government designated Arrowe Park Hospital and the Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre as “isolation” zones where citizens returning from China will be quarantined and monitored for 14 days. The U.K. health agency labeled Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, an “infected area.”
“The incidence or transmission of novel Coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus,” a statement said.
Dozens of potential patients who have been flown back to the U.K. from Wuhan more than a week ago are being held in quarantine in Arrowe Park. The two-week quarantine period is set to end Thursday, but one person in the group has already “threaten[ed] to abscond from Arrowe Park,” a government source told Sky News.
While cases outside of China remain relatively rare, the Chinese Ministry of Health reported that the disease has killed 908 Chinese citizens and infected more than 40,000 others.
