More than 140 Brits fly back home from coronavirus cruise ship
A plane carrying 142 Brit passengers from a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship landed at Birmingham Airport tonight (Wed) surrounded by ambulances.The holidaymakers were flown home from the Grand Princess with the majority being asked to self-isolate at home.The ship had been stranded off the coast in San Francisco after one previous cruise passenger died and 21 people tested positive for coronavirus.After six days locked in their cabins, the Brits were flown home on a repatriation flight arranged by the Foreign Office.The windowless Boeing 747 touched down at Birmingham Airport at 5pm today (Wed) and was immediately surrounded by ambulances and medical staff. Two elderly passengers were taken off the plane and immediately put into an ambulance which sped them away.Meanwhile a fleet of white Mercedes coaches waited for the rest of the passengers to disembark.They will be bussed to a private area in the airport before getting taxis or being driven home where they will self-isolate for 14 days.The Department of Health and Social Care said all the passengers had been assessed by American doctors before being taken off the Grand Princess and stressed that "none displayed any symptoms of coronavirus."One onlooker said: "There were officials in Hazmat suits and ambulances everywhere.
It was like something out of a Hollywood disaster movie."
A plane carrying 142 Brit passengers from a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship landed at Birmingham Airport tonight (Wed) surrounded by ambulances.The holidaymakers were flown home from the Grand Princess with the majority being asked to self-isolate at home.The ship had been stranded off the coast in San Francisco after one previous cruise passenger died and 21 people tested positive for coronavirus.After six days locked in their cabins, the Brits were flown home on a repatriation flight arranged by the Foreign Office.The windowless Boeing 747 touched down at Birmingham Airport at 5pm today (Wed) and was immediately surrounded by ambulances and medical staff.
Two elderly passengers were taken off the plane and immediately put into an ambulance which sped them away.Meanwhile a fleet of white Mercedes coaches waited for the rest of the passengers to disembark.They will be bussed to a private area in the airport before getting taxis or being driven home where they will self-isolate for 14 days.The Department of Health and Social Care said all the passengers had been assessed by American doctors before being taken off the Grand Princess and stressed that "none displayed any symptoms of coronavirus."One onlooker said: "There were officials in Hazmat suits and ambulances everywhere.
It was like something out of a Hollywood disaster movie."
