Coronavirus quarantine family's 'relief' at return home

Jeff Siddle says the family want to get back to "normal life"

A British man has spoken of his relief after returning home with his wife and daughter following two weeks in a coronavirus quarantine centre.

Jeff, Sindy and Jasmine Siddle, from Northumberland, were in isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral after flying back from Wuhan in China.

Jasmine celebrated her ninth birthday while in the quarantine centre.

They are now back home in Prudhoe after what Mr Siddle described as a "crazy" experience.

"It's relief more than anything and a feeling of getting back to normal life," he told BBC Newcastle. "It's been really crazy.

"Getting to the airport on the evacuation trip was scary because of the checkpoints and number of obstacles we had to overcome.

"There were 11 of us [at the quarantine centre] and we were completely isolated from everything.

"We were pretty much in our apartment for two weeks, although they gave us a small outdoor area where we could breathe fresh air."

'Really tough'

The family had travelled to Wuhan to spend Chinese New Year with relatives, but faced being split up because Mrs Siddle was initially not allowed to leave China.

Having returned to Britain, their daughter found the experience "really tough", Mr Siddle said.

"She desperately wanted to play with other children, she was missing her friends.

"We got homework from school for her and she made a video diary to keep her going, but the days did seem to fall into a routine of daytime TV.

"I thought I'd do lots of reading, but in the end I didn't have the concentration to focus on anything."

The coronavirus outbreak has been declared a global health emergency, with more than 50,000 cases worldwide.

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