Coronavirus UK: Brit bus driver completely unfazed next to man in full hazmat suit

Bus drivers on the coronavirus coaches were unfazed by the presence of specialists in full hazmat suits right next to them as they drove Brits who had touched down from Wuhan.

This afternoon, a jet landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, just hours after the UK confirmed its first two coronavirus cases.

After touching down just before 1.30pm UK time, the British passengers were being taken by bus to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, where they will spend the next fortnight.

But somewhat confusing broadcast footage of the fleet of coaches shows people dressed head to toe in white protective suits beside coach drivers who are fully exposed.

Many have been quick to comment on the 'poor coach drivers" who don't even have a face mask on, and people want answers.

A Twitter user called David said: "Could someone please explain why the nursing professional sitting next to the driver has a full protection suit but the coach driver is in normal dress with not even a face mask. Pure craziness."

Rob Owers wrote: "Feel a bit sorry for the poor coach drivers who are ferrying the #coronavirusuk Wuhan evacuees out of Brize Norton.

"Driver on left - official on right. They didn’t get the memo about the hazmat suit..."

Another said: "Full hazmat gear for the health official on the coach but the poor driver is exposed."

Others agreed: "What about the poor coach driver?"

After several delays, the flight left Wuhan at 9.45am local time on Friday, carrying 83 Britons and 27 non-UK nationals, mostly from EU countries.

Images from the UK base showed how ambulance crews met passengers, including a number of young children, on the tarmac as they disembarked from the aircraft after a lengthy 12-hour journey.

British passengers were being taken by bus to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, where they will spend the next fortnight.

They will be housed in an NHS staff accommodation block with access to the internet for a quarantine period of 14 days.

James Convey told Sky News from the plane: "It was quite a positive atmosphere to be honest, everyone was relieved to get out of China.

"There were a lot of obstacles for a lot of people to get on that plane and a lot of us overcame those obstacles with the help of the British and Chinese authorities.

"We're all very relieved to be back in the UK.

"It was a very tight turnaround. We had about 1.5 hours' notice to get to Wuhan airport, all the transport was locked down, the roads were closed.

"But my mother-in-law managed to call in a few favours... amazingly we did get there on time.

"I think there's probably a lot of people who didn't... but also there was lots of people on the flight."

There are more than 130 confirmed cases in 24 countries and regions outside mainland China including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and the United States.

Two cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed in a family in the UK.

No deaths have been reported outside China.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Thursday.