At least two people are in hospital with flu-like symptoms after visiting China.

It has been reported that the patients were taken into isolation after reporting their symptoms after entering the UK, but while initial tests have not been able to rule out coronavirus, senior doctors have said that the timings of the flights and the symptoms give grounds to be optimistic that the patients are suffering from the common flu.

ITIJ spoke to Dr Charlie Easmon, Medical Director at Your Excellent Health, to find out if people should be worried. “We should be concerned,” he said. “It will have a significant impact on travellers, I think, similar to the SARS outbreak. Insurers will have to deal with cancelled holidays and ill travellers. Some travellers will be quarantined in location A or B and will need sustenance costs whilst they are stuck there. There will be some deaths and some long-term ill who recover.”