Focus Live: Infectious diseases expert Dr Siouxsie Wiles answers your questions about coronavirus transmission, risk in NZ, masks and what you can do to prevent infection.
A family of nine who shared a meal at a Hong Kong restaurant have all tested positive for the coronavirus.
The family makes up almost all of the 10 positive cases reported across the territory yesterday after seven of them were confirmed late yesterday evening, the South China Morning Postreported. Their ages range from 22 to 68.
A 24-year-old man and his grandmother, 91, were initially confirmed to have the virus. Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection later said the man's father, mother, two aunts and three cousins were also infected.
A family of nine have all tested positive for the coronavirus after sharing a meal at a restaurant in Hong Kong. Photo / 123RF (stock)
The total number of cases in Hong Kong has now hit 36, heightening fears of a community outbreak in the densely populated city.
The new cases had been to a family gathering on January 19 at the Lento Party Room in Kwun Tong, where they shared a hotpot and a barbecue meal over the Lunar New Year holiday. Nineteen people joined the dinner, including two relatives from mainland China.
Over the weekend, an official in Shanghai confirmed the virus also travelled through aerosol transmission, which means it can float a long distance through the air and cause infection later when it is breathed in.
"Aerosol transmission refers to the mixing of the virus with droplets in the air to form aerosols, which causes infection after inhalation, according to medical experts," Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau deputy head Zeng Qun said at press briefing on Saturday, the China Daily reports.
A child cries as he waits in line to board a plane for Beijing at the airport in Hong Kong. Photo / AP
"As such, we have called on the public to raise their awareness of the prevention and control of the disease caused by family gatherings."
The concerns about airborne spread of the disease are so dire that the Government has urged residents to cancel all social activities and avoid gatherings altogether.
People are also urged to open windows in homes to help with ventilation and disinfect door handles, dinner tables and toilet seats.
This worrying development comes as the death toll from the virus in mainland China hits 811, making it more deadly than the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.
A further 89 people, most in the virus's epicentre of Hubei, have been pronounced dead from the outbreak, which pushes the death toll beyond the 774 killed worldwide by SARS, which took hold in 2002 and 2003.
Tourists wear masks at the Peak, a popular tourist spot in Hong Kong. Photo / AP
The number of people infected in China is now almost 37,200, although the World Health Organisation says the outbreak appears to be "stabilising".
Outside mainland China and Hong Kong, there have been more than 350 infections reported in nearly 30 places.
