A MAN who fell ill after returning from Wuhan in China sparked a major coronavirus alert.

Michael Hope was rushed to a special isolation unit and treated by doctors wearing full protective suits when he called his GP to complain of breathing difficulties and flu-like symptoms.

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He was told to stay in his house and doctors would come to him.

Mr Hope told The Guardian that he was greeted by medics wearing white suits when he answered his front door.

He was escorted to the ambulance and rushed across Newcastle to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, one of just four hospitals in the UK with special facilities capable of dealing with highly infectious deadly diseases.

Mr Hope said he was treated in isolation by medics who disposed of their clothing when they left his room which was entered through an airlock.

Luckily for him he has been given the all-clear.

"I was worried but I just tried to stay calm and focus on the fact that it was probably just flu," he told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Government's Cobra emergency committee has met to discuss the threat to the UK from coronavirus as nine people wait to see if they have the virus.

The meeting in Whitehall was chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, after 14 people in the UK - including Mr Hope - were tested for the virus, with five given the all-clear.

Professor Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director at PHE, has said it is still "early days" in the course of the virus, but stressed that most of those affected abroad are making a good recovery.

But he added it is "highly likely" that cases would be seen in the UK.

Mr Hancock said the risk to the UK public "remains low" as he left the Cabinet Office.

"We have just held a Cobra meeting on the coronavirus concerns," he said.

"As I made clear to the House yesterday, the clinical advice is that the risk to the public remains low and the chief medical officer will be making a full statement later today."

The Scottish Government confirmed on Thursday that five people were being tested after presenting with symptoms of the illness, while it was understood that another patient was tested at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.

Two of those being tested in Scotland had been diagnosed with flu after travelling to Wuhan in China - the origin of the global outbreak.

Downing Street said four out of five suspected cases in Scotland were believed to involve Chinese nationals.

Meanwhile, the official death toll in China has risen to 26 with more than 830 confirmed cases.

The Chinese city of Wuhan is rapidly building a new 1,000-bed hospital to treat victims of a new coronavirus, while Disneyland Shanghai and parts of the Great Wall of China have been closed to visitors.