British Airways has suspended all flights between Heathrow and Beijing and Shanghai after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a warning against all but essential travel to mainland China amid the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.
Flights are currently suspended until 31 January “while we assess the situation”, according to a travel advisory on the BA website. Services to Hong Kong are not affected by the change.
The airline added: “This situation will remain under review and we will continue to provide regular updates.”
Other carriers, such as United Airlines, Air Canada and Cathay Pacific, have also cancelled some flights to and from China.
The suspension came just hours after the FCO updated its travel advisory for China to recommend British citizens stay away from the mainland unless absolutely necessary.
It warned those already in China that it could become increasingly harder to leave the country as government authorities impose further travel restrictions. The FCO is working to find options for citizens in the area to leave Hubei Province, where the virus originated, but the deadline for registering their interest in going has already passed.
The UK government has said it believes there are up to 300 British people in the area, and has now announced that anyone returning from Hubei Province will be placed into quarantine for a fortnight, which is the incubation period for the virus.
Other countries, such as Australia, have also announced plans to quarantine anyone returning from the area.
The outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus began in the city of Wuhan late last year and there are now nearly 6,000 confirmed cases in 16 countries, including France and Germany. The death toll in China has risen to 132, with the majority of victims being elderly or those with pre-existing respiratory conditions.
Symptoms include fever and a cough “that may progress to severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties”, according to Public Health England (PHE).
As of 28 January, a total of 97 tests for the virus in the UK had returned negative results, and PHE still believes the risk to the British public is low.
Those who have been to Wuhan or believe they may have otherwise been exposed to novel coronavirus have been asked to avoid contact with other people for 14 days.