Chinese restuarants in the island have taken the precaution of staying closed in the wake of the coronavirus threat.

The Jade Harbour restaurant in Peel said some staff are in self-imposed quarantine after returning home from New Year celebrations in China.

And Food Paradise Express Chinese and Thai takeaway in Pulrose said staff had chosen to ‘self-isolate’ for at least 14 days ahead of the outlet reopening on February 18.

But the public health directorate said that while it had received calls expressing concerns about the risk of infection, none had met the requirement for self-isolation or investigation as possible cases of coronavirus.

On its Facebook page, the Jade Harbour posted: ’According to NHS advice regarding the outbreak of Wuhan coronavirus that whoever coming back to UK from China needs to quarantine for at least 14 days.

’As you may know some of our staff had gone back to China to celebrate Chinese New Year.

’Although the case is not confirmed by the hospital but for the health safety of our staff and the community, we had decided to extend our closure time until February 6. Sorry for any inconvenience.’

Public health director Dr Henrietta Ewart said: ’Although I cannot discuss any particular individual, the directorate has had a number of calls from clinical staff and/or members of the public concerned about risk of infection.

’To date, we are not aware of any individual who has travelled back to the island from Wuhan.

’None of the queries we have received to date met definitions either for self-isolation as above or for further investigation as possible cases.’

Food Paradise Express posted: ‘To adhere to the advice and for the safety of everyone on the island, we will be cutting our holiday short and self isolate for at least 14 days prior to re-opening.

‘We aim to re-open on February 18 as promised. Thank you for your understanding.’

The take-away later clarified the situation: ‘None of us have travelled to the cities of outbreak or are unwell in any way.

‘Self-isolating is purely a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our local residents and to confirm that it’s safe for us to go back to work at the scheduled date.’

Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei province, has been sealed off by the Beijing government as the epicentre of the coronavirus which has so far claimed the lives of some 130 people, with nearly 6,000 cases reported.

The virus shows signs of spreading overseas, with people who never visited China falling ill in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

British Airways has cancelled all flights to and from China.

Public Health England leads the response to new and emerging health threats for the whole of the UK and the Crown Dependencies.

Travellers who have returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days are advised to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people, like they would with other flu viruses.

You are advised to call your GP even if you do not have symptoms of the virus.

Dr Ewart said: ’Our health protection staff within the directorate are working with colleagues across DHSC (including hospital and community) and across government (including ports) to ensure that we are implementing the Public Health England guidance, which is updated daily at 2pm to reflect the rapidly evolving situation.’