Dozens of British tourists among 130 guests in coronavirus-hit Tenerife hotel allowed to leave quarantine

Dozens of British tourists are among 130 guests at a coronavirus-hit hotel in Tenerife who have been told they are able to leave the quarantine.

There are around 700 tourists, including 160 Britons, in lockdown at the Costa Adeje Palace Hotel after a Italian guest tested positive for the virus.

The Minister of Health said on Thursday a cohort of 130 tourists staying at the hotel are free to leave after being declared low risk.

It is understood around 50 of those are British guests.

Those who can leave are understood to have arrived on Monday, after the guest who was diagnosed had already left.

A statement from the Foreign Office said: “We are urgently seeking clarification from the Canary Island authorities following their announcement that 130 tourists of different nationalities will be granted permission to leave the Costa Adeje Palace Hotel.

“We continue to offer support to all British nationals at the hotel.”

The four-star hotel has been in lockdown, with its doors padlocked, since the weekend when the Italian doctor tested positive.

Guests are facing being held for up to 14 days, but some have complained that staying put places them at greater risk.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has defended the response to the situation in Tenerife.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Foreign Office has been in contact with more than 100 British nationals who are staying in the hotel.

“They are providing them with support, they are also in regular contact with local authorities and tour companies to share information.

“The quarantine is being managed by the Spanish authorities. We understand that those guests who have been assessed by medical staff and who are not showing symptoms are free to move around within the hotel.”

Pressed on whether there would be an evacuation flight for Britons, the spokesman said: “We base all our decisions on medical and scientific advice and everything is kept under review.”

It comes as two more people were diagnosed with the virus in the UK.

One of the new cases – a parent at a Buxton primary school in Derbyshire – contracted the virus in Tenerife, where 168 Britons are being kept in a hotel on the south west of the island.