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Hundreds of guests in coronavirus-hit hotel in Tenerife ignore quarantine to lie on sunbeds

A British man trapped in a coronavirus-hit hotel in Tenerife has claimed many guests are ignoring advice to stay in their rooms.

Nigel Scotland, who is staying at the four-star H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel with his wife, said guests were lying on sunbeds and using the pool despite fears over the infection spreading.

An Italian doctor and his wife were diagnosed with coronavirus during their stay at the hotel, and there are reports of two more cases.

Scotland told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “Strictly speaking, we are not supposed to be out but the hotel is serving coffee downstairs, so we have actually been down to collect coffee.

“I noticed that there are a lot of people, I counted 268 people on sunbeds. And the people swimming in the pool were not wearing masks.”

Read more: Tenerife hotel placed in quarantine after doctor tests positive for coronavirus

Tourists in quarantine wave from inside the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Spanish officials say a tourist hotel on the Canary Island of Tenerife has been placed in quarantine after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and Spanish news media says some 1,000 tourists staying at the complex are not allowed to leave. (AP Photo)
Tourists in quarantine wave from inside the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, Tenerife, Spain. (AP)
Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in La Caleta, in the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. Spanish officials say a tourist hotel on the Canary Island of Tenerife has been placed in quarantine after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and Spanish news media says some 1,000 tourists staying at the complex are not allowed to leave. (AP Photo)
Police officers wearing masks stand in front of the hotel. (AP)
The hotel has been placed in quarantine after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the coronavirus (Picture: AP)
The hotel has been placed in quarantine after an Italian doctor staying there tested positive for the coronavirus. (AP)

Scotland added: “There seems to be a little bit of disparity between what the medics say and what the hotel seems to be allowing. We're strictly speaking supposed to be in our rooms.

“My wife and I were visited by the doctor. He did inform us more people had tested positive relating to [the Italian] doctor and his wife, who were found to be positive on Monday.

“We do not know if they have been taken away, but I think it is highly likely.”

He said the UK Foreign Office had not contacted him but his great hope was to be flown home quickly.

Read more: Fewer Britons now think coronavirus is a 'major threat'

Student Harley Mitford, who is also staying at the hotel in the south-west of the Spanish island with his family, added he was afraid they were being put at risk of catching coronavirus.

He told The Guardian: “The Italian guy who was infected had left before we came, so if they let us go, we couldn’t have come into contact with him.

“If we’re kept in we’re more likely to come into contact with people who came into contact with him. It’s counterintuitive, and it’s exactly what happened on the cruise ship.”

Watch what life is like in a quarantined Italian town

In total 22 Britons at the hotel have been told to take their own temperatures.

Many said there is confusion over whether they should stay in their rooms.

The Foreign Office is in touch with around 160 Britons from the hotel, who have been told it is likely they will have to stay put for 14 days.

It is understood guests without symptoms are able to move around the hotel grounds, although some guests say they are still being told to stay in their rooms.

As of Wednesday, a total of 7,132 people have been tested for it in the UK.

Of these, 13 have tested positive, and eight have since been discharged from hospital.

Several schools in the UK have closed while others have sent pupils home for fear they may have been exposed to coronavirus during ski trips to northern Italy.

In Italy, the number of people infected grew to 322, or 45% in 24 hours, and deaths of patients with the virus rose to 11.

Read more: UK schools close as coronavirus panic spreads across Europe

The infection continues to spread across Europe amid fears of a global pandemic (Picture: PA)
The infection continues to spread across Europe amid fears of a global pandemic. (PA)

Health secretary Matt Hancock said official advice has been changed to say people who have been to anywhere in Italy north of Pisa should self-isolate if they develop flu-like symptoms on their return to the UK.

He told MPs on Wednesday: “We have a clear, four-part plan to respond to the outbreak of this disease: contain, delay, research and mitigate.”

The total number of cases of coronavirus in China is around 77,150, while the death toll is approximately 2,592.

Outside mainland China, the outbreak has spread to some 29 countries and territories, with a death toll of around two dozen.