Update at 12:50 KST on 2/25: This article has been updated to include a statement from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Amid ongoing concerns about the Novel Coronavirus, North Korean authorities have rejected a British government request to fly a chartered aircraft to the country for support and evacuation purposes, NK News learned on Monday.

The flight, which was proposed with the EU in order to bring supplies into the country and fly some effectively stranded by North Korea’s draconian response to the virus out, will not be allowed, multiple sources indicated.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) would not directly confirm NK News‘s reporting, though insisted that it was doing everything it could to ensure the wellbeing of its diplomats.

“Our staff continue to work with the North Korean authorities, and other international partners, to secure a regular means of rotating staff in and out of the country, and resupplying diplomatic missions, while COVID19-related restrictions remain in place,” a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Instead, Pyongyang indicated to foreign residents that it will only allow special flights into and out of DPRK airspace for medical emergencies, NK News understands.

As a result, travel in and out of the country is effectively prohibited at present, with all rail and air routes suspended until the end of February at the earliest.

While DPRK-PRC land crossings were thought in early February to be allowing some outbound movements of people, it’s no longer clear if this is even the case.

And although a 30-day quarantine imposed on all foreigners living in the country is scheduled to expire on March 1, multiple informed sources told NK News they expected it to be extended – as much as two months more.

This means that the 380 foreigners reportedly under quarantine by North Korean authorities will remain in the country for the foreseeable future.

Although the UK-chartered flight could have remedied some of these issues, one other option may exist.

NK News understands North Korean authorities told some in the diplomatic community that a special one-way flight out could be organized to Vladivostok in early March.

However, some worry that this will be contingent on the current quarantine being removed, a step that could yet be delayed for a significant time.

North Korea’s response to containing the virus has had some severe implications for those among the expat community.

NK News understands that some embassies have been running out of basics, including cash, while foreigners officially scheduled to leave the country weeks ago remaining prohibited from leaving the country.

And while some foreigners are being quarantined in the diplomatic compound – a small area within which exists relative freedom – others are said to be locked inside their apartments or even rooms, receiving as little as one meal per day.

One source said the draconian measures may be designed to ensure no foreigners contract the virus on the way out of the country: the implication being that it is already spreading outside designated quarantine areas.

The South Korea-based outlet Daily NK said in early February that the virus was already present in North Korea, having killed several people in the DPRK-PRC border city of Sinuiju.

Though North Korea continues to claim the country is virus-free, NK News understands from multiple sources that the virus is said to have spread to the city and that it is consequently cordoned off from the rest of the country.