Milton Keynes people are not being told the full alarming facts about coronavirus, claims resident stuck in China

David Qin, 54, is worried the UK government are not publicising the full facts about how the virus has swept through China.

His family is still at home in MK but he plans to take his own child out of school to self study at home if the virus spreads any closer.

"I read the reports in China and then I see the news from the UK and it is very different. I think people in the UK are not being told how serious the virus is," he said.

"They should be more prepared. Everyone should be wearing face masks, particularly in crowded places and on public transport.

"I feel I have the responsibility to tell people in Milton Keynes how bad it is and how quickly coronavirus can spread in the case of an outbreak."

Alarmingly, Mr Qin says reports in China now state people can incubate the virus for up to 28 days instead of the previously publicised period of 14 days. They may show no symptoms during this time - but they could be infecting hundreds of other people simply by going about their daily business.

"In reported cases, some patients were tested negative for more than three times over a period within a 14 days incubation period. But they later turned positive in the 4th test."

The way in which the virus is transmitted may also have been underestimated, said Mr Qin.

"There is a case of two people in a supermarket in China. One was incubating the virus, the other was perfectly healthy. They stood next to each other for a period of 15 seconds and they did not touch. But the healthy person still caught the virus. That is how easily it is transmitted," he said.

Mr Qin is also concerned people in the UK are being fed misleading information about symptoms.

"Here in China they say symptoms do not always start with a high temperature. Some people do not develop the fever for a week. So people in the UK might think they don't have it because they don't have a temperature, so they do not isolate. But really they have the virus and be infecting others," he said.

Mr Qin is staying in a city two hour's drive away from the Coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan. But he is still in virtual isolation.

"The real situation is that the majority of people in China have been locked at home since January 23. Schools, shopping malls , shopping arcade and markets are closed except those which sell items such as medicines and food supplies. All residential areas are closed and one family is given an exit pass. Each family is allowed one person every two days to go out and buy the home necessities.

"All people must wear mouth masks and people are not allowed to go out without one. Temperatures must be taken when entering any residential area, and no cars/people from other areas are allowed to enter into residential area/properties they do not belong to."

In China there is also some doubt about the accuracy of coronavirus test kits, claims Mr Qin.

"There are reports saying that the accuracy of the test kits is in the range of 30 to 50 per cent for those who are infected. It means that a certain percentage of the infected people are thought to be healthy but were free to cause more infections as a result," he said.

Worryingly there are also reports in China that some people can carry the virus but not develop symptoms, said Mr Qin.

" One person came back from Wuhan on January 10 and started to have symptoms on Feb 7. All five of his family members got infected before him," he said.

"The virus is found in door handles, toilets and things that the sick people touched as well as droplets in the air. from people coughing. It is said to float in the air for a longer duration,

especially in closed spaces, and it and lasts longer in cold weather."

Mr Qin is staying in China until all danger of him bringing the virus back to his family is over. Meanwhile he admits he is extremely worried the UK is heading for coronavirus disaster..

"Though the UK government has issued travel advice and perceived that the UK is safe for the time being, the real situation makes me worried about a possible outbreak in the UK and in Milton Keynes where my child is at school.

"My aim is help people understand the true potential threat that might present in the UK."

Currently in the UK, there are 51 positive cases of coronavirus. Some 13,911 people have been tested and 13,860 of them were confirmed as negative.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this afternoon unveiled the government's 27-page action plan.

It states that up to one in five workers in the UK could be off sick during a coronavirus peak, but in a worst-case scenario, up to 80 per cent of the population could become infected.

This would cause hospitals to be overflowing with people with pneumonia, and there would be a relatively high death rate among the elderly and frail.

The plan emphasises the need for the public to take action such as washing their hands thoroughly, and sets out possible strategies for delaying spread of the virus . These include school closures, a reduction in the number of large-scale gatherings and encouraging more employees to work from home.