PASSENGERS on a plane are being contacted after one of the people on board was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Easyjet flight landed at Gatwick Airport on January 28, arriving from Geneva.

The case has been confirmed by Public Health England, who told the company they would be contacting all passengers who were sat "in the vicinity of the customer" on flight EZS8481.

They will be provided with guidance on what actions to take by the health authority.

An Easyject spokeswoman said that, "as the customer was not experiencing any symptoms, the risk to others on board the flight is very low".

She said: "We remain in contact with the public health authorities and are following their guidance.

"The health and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is the airline’s highest priority.

"All of the crew who operated have been advised to monitor themselves for a 14 day period since the flight in line with Public Health England advice and the original flight was 13 days ago and none are displaying any symptoms."

This follows four more people having tested positive for the coronavirus, confirmed today by chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty.

He said they were "known contacts" of an existing coronavirus patient and "the virus was passed on in France".

He continued: "Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases. They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided.

"The patients have been transferred to specialist NHS centres at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and The Royal Free hospitals, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus."