Nick Robinson revealed today he is in coronavirus self-quarantine after returning from a holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia with a cough – joining Channel 4’s Jon Snow who has just come back from Iran.
The BBC Today host revealed how he drove to hospital to be met by a nurse in full protective gear for a test through his car window, and is now spending 48 hours at home to wait for the results.
Robinson used his experience of the ‘precautionary’ test to make a joke at the expense of Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings, quipping that he would like to ‘quarantine us all’.
The BBC Today host revealed how he drove to hospital to be met by a nurse in full protective gear for a test through his car window, and is now spending 48 hours at home to wait for the results
Robinson praised NHS staff for their work in fighting the virus after he was tested in a hospital car park
The broadcaster, who spoke to Channel 4 tonight via videolink, will remain in quarantine for the next two weeks after visiting the country to cover its election
Robinson told Today when asked about his experience: ‘I’m fine actually, I’ve just had a fantastic three-week holiday in Vietnam and Cambodia. As you maybe can hear I’m a little bit croaky.
‘I’ve got a little bit of a cough but I did before I went on holiday. Still, my doctor said as a precaution – and frankly to be considerate – I should report myself as Vietnam and Cambodia were added to the list yesterday of places where you should get a test after returning.’
Robinson phoned 111 and was told to drive himself to hospital to avoid infecting others.
He continued: ‘A nurse came out into the car park fully protected with a plastic face visor, rubber gloves, disposable aprons, then carried out the kind of the routine test you would have in hospital but through the car window.
‘So your blood pressure, your temperature, oxygen saturation levels, then they’ll put a cotton swab in your nose so they can do a test. Then you go home for 48 hours for results and when they say – as expected – that you haven’t got the virus you can leave home.’
Asked about whether the system could struggle with more people, Robinson added: ‘I was there for two and a half hours, it is hugely time-consuming for what in my case was merely a precaution. Although I would suspect Dominic Cummings would like to quarantine us all.’
It comes as Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow has announced he is self-isolating after travelling to Iran, which is firefighting one of the largest coronavirus crises outside China.
The broadcaster, 72, will remain in quarantine for the next two weeks after visiting the country to cover its election.
Snow said that he does not have any symptoms of the virus and was not near the epicentre of the outbreak, which has infected 95 and killed 16.
He told Channel 4 News via a videolink from his home: ‘I woke up this morning feeling rather tired, but that was from the trip.
‘But we weren’t actually anywhere near where the main virus outbreak has occurred.’
Snow said that he is ‘not really supposed to congregate with any crowds or go anywhere where there may be people’, adding: ‘So that means I’m sitting at home.
‘To be honest, the absolute enormity of the prospect of 14 days hasn’t really hit me.’
He added: ‘Maybe if you call me again in 14 days you will have a headcase on your hands.’
Snow, his producer and cameraman are all self-isolating in accordance with government guidance.
People who have returned from Iran, 11 towns in northern Italy, areas of South Korea and Hubei province, China, since February 19 are all advised to ‘call NHS 111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms,’ according to the Department of Health.
‘None of the team are currently showing any symptoms of Covid-19 but the official advice is to self-isolate regardless,’ Channel 4 News tweeted.
The Foreign Office tonight updated its travel advice to Iran and urges Britons to steer clear unless absolutely necessary.
Snow said that he does not have any symptoms of the virus and was not near the epicentre of the outbreak, which has infected 95 and killed 16
Channel 4 said Snow was following Department of Health guidance
Iraj Harirchi, Iran’s deputy health minister, has been diagnosed with coronavirus just a day after he appeared at a press conference sweating profusely while insisting the country had its outbreak under control
The head of Iran’s virus task force today tested positive for the infection just a day after he gave a press conference playing down the risk posed by the country’s outbreak.
Only China, South Korea, Italy and Japan have a greater volume of infections than Iran – but dozens of countries are now scrambling to get a grip of their outbreaks.
Ministers in Rome have locked down 11 towns in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, which have been slapped with travel bans and had public events axed.
The drastic action as Italy suffered its eleventh death and the number of cases jumped to 322.
Police checkpoints have been enforced to prevent the virus spilling across Italian soil, but cases have already sprouted up in the south.
The UK Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the worst-hit regions.