THE room at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in York remains cordoned off.

A spokesman for StayCity York confirmed that they are waiting for clearance from Public Health England to begin a deep clean of the apartment where the two people diagnosed with the virus stayed.

The two people taken ill – who are members of the same family – had been staying at the hotel next to York Barbican, when they became unwell and were taken to hospital on Wednesday night.

She said: "A specialist outside contractor is ready and waiting to go in and do the work, but the room remains sealed up."

Responding to reports on social media that StayCity cleaners were being asked to carry out the work, she said: "No workers have been forced to carry out the work and StayCity has said that any workers who want to stay at home can do that, no pay will be docked, and a lot of the team have chosen to do that. We have also drafted in senior management for other parts of the business to support the team in York."

StayCity said it had offered guests the chance to cancel bookings, offered them refunds and offered to help them find alternative accommodation.