The number of British schoolchildren admitted to hospital in Beijing with suspected swine flu doubled yesterday to eight and a further 48 people visiting China on a cultural tour were being held in quarantine.

The 48 children and teachers had travelled to China for a two-week language and cultural immersion course organised by the British Council and Han Ban, the Chinese Language Council International, and were in quarantine in a four-star hotel in Beijing. Martin Turner, a spokesman for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), organising the tour, praised the Chinese handling of the outbreak. “This is not an ideal situation but it is being managed well.”

At the Ditan Infectious Diseases Hospital in northern Beijing, medical staff said the condition of the first four children to be admitted was improving rapidly. One told The Times: “It is confirmed that they all have the H1N1 virus. But we are making frequent tests and monitoring their temperatures over an eight-hour period. Once they go for two days with a normal temperature they can be released. It is possible some can leave tomorrow.”

The medic said the initial four children had already passed the infectious stage of the illness. The four children first admitted are aged between 13 to 14. Three are from the Central Foundation Boys’ School, Clerkenwell, Central London, and one from Parliament Hill School, Camden, North London. It will take 24 hours to confirm whether the four children admitted to hospital on Sunday have been infected with swine flu. Matthew Barnett was among the first four to be taken to hospital. He told the BBC that he was feeling “OK”.

He said: “I was at the hotel because they have routine temperature tests and my temperature was higher than usual so I had to be brought here. They put me in this separate room and said ‘you have to stay in here and not make contact with anyone else’. I’ve been treated fine, they’ve been very nice. The food’s good.” The other three children were admitted earlier.

Those in quarantine were staying at the Yanxiang Hotel in the road between Beijing and the city’s international airport. Three layers of metal barriers blocked the entrance to the hotel and a yellow police tape marked the outer perimeter of the quarantine. Three Chinese police sat outside to prevent anyone from approaching the building. The children in quarantine appeared to be undaunted by their segregation and the curtailing of their trip. Behind the barriers, two girls played basketball, both in masks. One said: “We are not allowed to talk.” Mr Turner said it was possible that the number in quarantine could increase as more tests were carried out and an investigation was mounted into other children who came into contact with the latest four to be taken to hospital.

Among those in quarantine are four teenagers from Clevedon School in North Somerset, who were in China with two teachers. One pupil, Christopher Hicks, said the group was exploring the Great Wall when they were recalled because they had had contact with an infected child. One boy, Joe Robinson, wrote: “We’re being treated well. We’ve got our own tellies.” Four girls from Cheltenham Ladies’ College have also been quarantined.

The children were among 278 students and 49 teachers from about 25 schools in the UK. Most have been allowed to continue their journey in China.

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