Tests for coronavirus on 14 people in the UK have come back negative but there are checks ongoing on other people, according to the Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty.
The announcement comes after Boris Johnson ordered a meeting of Whitehall’s Cobra emergency committee to respond to the threat.
As the infection crisis escalated in China, Professor Paul Cosford, medical director at Public Health England, said it was “highly likely” that the virus would reach the UK.
No cases of the deadly virus, which can be fatal, have yet been confirmed in the UK.
The Cobra meeting, chaired by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, was called to urgently ensure precautionary measures are in place to deal with the virus if it does spread to Britain.
Medical experts were at every UK airport today and information on the virus is being given to passengers returning from China.
Education ministers and others were attending the Whitehall meeting, amid concerns over the return of students to the UK around the Chinese New Year.
Universities were being put on alert over how to respond to the infection threat.
Professor Cosford told the BBC that he “will not be surprised” if people come back from China to the UK with the virus.
He added: It’s highly likely that we will have cases in the UK and of course every so often we do get new infections coming from the animal kingdom such as this one.
He also stressed that most of those affected abroad are making a good recovery. The official death toll in China has risen to 26, with more than 830 confirmed cases.
GPs in the UK have now been told to place suspected victims in isolation. Five patients were in Scotland and a sixth in Belfast. Most were thought to be returning Chinese students.
Chinese authorities have imposed lockdowns on at least 10 cities near Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated, effectively putting 33 million people into quarantine. Sections of the Great Wall of China and Disneyland in Shanghai were also shut.
The authorities also rushed to build a hospital to treat victims. There are fears of a rise in infections as millions travel to celebrate New Year.