Two baggage handlers have tested positive for coronavirus, it has emerged.

It is not known which airport they were based at but British Airways confirmed two of their staff members have tested positive for Covid-19.

The pair are now in quarantine and recovering at home.

A spokesman for the airline said: ‘Public Health England has confirmed that two members of our staff have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

‘The colleagues have been isolated and are recovering at home.’

The news comes as the government pledged £46million in funding in a bid to tackle the growing crisis.

That includes urgent work to find a Covid-19 vaccine and quick ways to diagnose the disease.

There has been one confirmed death in the UK but there are fears that the death of a second elderly hospital patient is linked to the outbreak.

On Thursday evening, the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading said one of their patients who had been ‘in and out of hospital’ for other reasons tested positive for coronavirus and passed away.

Samples taken from an elderly patient who died at Milton Keynes Hospital are currently being investigated for coronavirus.

The Department of Health said there are now 163 confirmed cases in the UK.

Globally, the number of coronavirus cases has passed 100,000, with 3,400 deaths.

Italy is now the European epicentre for coronavirus with 148 confirmed deaths.

Health chiefs also said people diagnosed with coronavirus who show only ‘very minimal’ symptoms should self-isolate at home rather than in hospital.

There is also new advice to travellers returning to the UK from anywhere in Italy that they should self-isolate if they develop symptoms. – Agencies