Coronavirus: Britons in Tenerife told to 'stay in rooms' as hotel in Adeje is quarantined
Health officials are conducting tests in the resort of Adeje, which is popular with British holidaymakers.
Wednesday 26 February 2020 09:38, UK
A four-star seafront hotel in Tenerife is in lockdown with hundreds of tourists being tested for coronavirus after an Italian doctor who was staying there was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Officials from the town of Adeje, which is popular with British holidaymakers, say the H10 Costa Adeje Palace is in quarantine - and around 1,000 guests are being told to stay in their rooms.
Medical teams are taking guests' temperatures in the resort, which has nearly 500 rooms, four swimming pools and a gym.
Images from inside the hotel in the Canary Islands showed staff in face masks at the reception desk, and others loading a table in the foyer with bottled water.
The quarantine comes after an Italian doctor was admitted to hospital on the island and has since tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The doctor, who had travelled with his wife, had a fever for six days before he went to a clinic, and was then admitted to University Hospital Nuestra Senora de Candelaria where the test was carried out, according to El Dia.
His wife has also tested positive for COVID-19.
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It comes as Spanish officials confirmed a woman, who recently visited northern Italy where there have been around 280 confirmed coronavirus cases, has tested positive for the disease in Barcelona.
A top official at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said it was no longer a question of if the virus would become a global pandemic.
Dr Anne Schuchat said: "It's a question of when and how many people will be infected."
Footage from outside showed the Tenerife building cordoned off and holidaymakers wearing face masks. Marked police cars were on the street.
Travel firms Tui and Jet2holidays are among those who use use the hotel for package holidays, with Tui having around 200 guests there from different countries, including a small number from the UK.
One Briton staying at the hotel said she was enduring the "holiday from hell".
Hannah Green, 27, from Hertfordshire, said she had been told to remain inside the building with her boyfriend and one-year-old son twice since they arrived on Sunday - first because of the Saharan sandstorm that swept the Canary Islands, and now because of the positive coronavirus test at the hotel.
She said: "We're in our room with the baby. We're worried for the baby.
"We don't want to be here. We're fed up now... Holiday from hell, honestly."
A British guest, who did not want to be named, told Sky News: "All we have been told is to stay in our rooms."
Another Briton, whose wife is nearly seven months pregnant, said: "We've not been given any information other than a piece of paper under the door. We can't get through to reception."
He added: "Without the internet we wouldn't have a clue what was going on."
The note distributed to guests said: "We regret to inform you that for healthy reasons, the hotel has been closed down. Until the sanitary authorities warn, you must remain in your rooms."
The man later said a packed lunch had been delivered to their room - and it was the only food and water the couple have had all day.
He said: "Apparently this is all we are getting today. The doctors have just been to our room to take our temperatures. They couldn't tell us much. The doctors have only seen three floors so far and still have another four floors to go.
"They are letting people out on to the hotel grounds if they choose but have to wear a mask. No news on what the longer term plan is."
He added: "It was our last peaceful, relaxing holiday before the baby comes"
H10 Hotels told Sky News in a statement that measures recommended by health officials were in force "to ensure the safety and well-being of customers and employees".
It added it was providing customers and hotel staff with "all the necessary care and attention" to ensure "they are taken care of in the best way possible".
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: "Our staff are offering advice and support to a number of British people in a hotel in Tenerife and their families.
"We are in close contact with the hotel management and the Spanish authorities, and are seeking further information."
In other developments:
- People returning to the UK from parts of northern Italy that are on lockdown have been told by the UK's chief medical officer that they must self-isolate
- Three schools in Cheshire have shut down after students return from Italy ski trips
- A total of 15 people have died from COVID-19 in Iran, and people there are being urged to stay at home
- A Korean Air flight attendant has tested positive for the coronavirus
- Croatia and Switzerland have confirmed their first cases of COVID-19. There are two in Austria
- South Korean officials are investigating a possible link between a Christian sect and a spike of infections
- Bahrain has cancelled all flights with Dubai airport - one of the busiest in the world
- 132 passengers and crew on a Turkish Airlines plane from Tehran have been quarantined for 14 days and tested for the virus at a hospital in Ankara
- A health adviser has suggested coronavirus could be feared "Disease X"
- Global stock markets have started to slide further after Monday saw the biggest one-day falls for several years
- The United Arab Emirates has banned all flights to and from Iran
- Iran's deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi has tested positive for the virus, according to state media.
Checks are also being carried out on those who may have come into contact with the tourist, who was travelling from northern Italy, parts of which are on lockdown because of a coronavirus outbreak.
The president of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, confirmed the case on Twitter, and said the patient had been "isolated" and the test results sent to Madrid for further analysis.
It is the third confirmed case in Spain. A German tourist was quarantined earlier this month on the island of La Gomera and a British man in Majorca. Both were released after recovering and showing no further symptoms of the illness.
Tour operators TUI and Jet2holidays use the hotel at the centre of the Tenerife coronavirus scare - which comes after thousands of British holidaymakers will have returned to the UK from the Canary Islands at the weekend after the half-term school holidays.
Both companies said their package holiday timetables would remain unchanged.
A TUI UK spokesperson said: "We're aware of a reported case of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) at the H10 Palace Hotel in Costa Adeje, Tenerife.
"All guests have been asked to remain in their rooms and are being looked after by the hotel.
"Our holiday programme to Tenerife continue to operate as planned for all other hotels."
A spokesman for the firm Jet2 said: "We are aware of reports that a non-Jet2holidays customer staying at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife has tested positive for coronavirus.
"Under the advice of the regional and the Spanish government authorities, the hotel has been placed under quarantine.
"The health and safety of our customers is our absolute priority, and we will release more information as it becomes available.
"In line with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice, our flying programme remains unchanged."