Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the novel coronavirus detected in the city of Wuhan; and what assessment he has made of the risk posed by the novel coronavirus to (a) British citizens in China and (b) to the UK.

The Foreign Secretary spoke to his Chinese counterpart on 28 January about the coronavirus. The British Government is liaising directly with our international partners and the Chinese authorities through our Embassy in Beijing.

To date there have been no cases of British nationals confirmed with the virus. We are liaising directly with Public Health England, who currently assess the threat to the UK to be low. Based on the emerging evidence regarding case numbers, potential sources, and human to human transmission, we have advised against all travel to Hubei Province.

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