FOUR PEOPLE ARE being tested for suspected coronavirus in Scotland, according to the head of infection medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Jurgen Haas said he believes there will be many more cases from other cities in the UK.

He said three cases are in Edinburgh and the other is believed to be in Glasgow.

Tests are currently being carried out and none of the patients have been confirmed as having the disease.

They all travelled to Scotland from Wuhan, where the outbreak is thought to have originated, within the past two weeks and are showing symptoms of respiratory trouble, a red flag for the virus.

Chinese authorities have moved to isolate three cities that are home to more than 18 million people in an unprecedented effort to contain the deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds and spread to other parts of the world during the busy Lunar New Year travel period.

The illnesses from the newly identified coronavirus first appeared last month in Wuhan, an industrial and transportation hub in central China’s Hubei province.

The vast majority of mainland China’s more than 570 cases have been in the city.

Other cases have been reported in the US, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Singapore and Hong Kong reported their first cases on Thursday.