PARIS: Five British nationals including a child have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in France, after staying in the same ski chalet and coming into contact with a person who had been in Singapore, Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Saturday (Feb 8).
The total number of people infected with the virus in France has now reached 11.
Buzyn said the group of people newly infected with the virus were not in a serious condition.
They had formed "a cluster, a grouping around one original case" after staying in the same chalet, in the Contamine Montjoie resort in Savoie in eastern France.
AdvertisementAdvertisement[h=3]Four overseas cases of novel coronavirus linked to Singapore: Here’s what we know[/h]"That original case was brought to our attention last night, it is a British national who had returned from Singapore where he had stayed between Jan 20 and 23, and he arrived in France on Jan 24 for four days," Buzyn said.
Two of the apartments in the ski chalet were being examined, another health official told the televised news conference.
The infected Britons had been hospitalised overnight in the region, the ministry added.
Authorities are now seeking to contact people who came into close contact with the initially infected Briton.
Singapore has reported a total of 33 coronavirus cases. At least four overseas cases have been linked to an international business conference at Singapore's Grand Hyatt hotel last month.
AdvertisementAdvertisement[h=3]READ: Coronavirus outbreak: Singapore raises DORSCON level to orange; schools to suspend inter-school, external activities[/h]The new coronavirus that emerged in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year has killed 722 people and infected more than 34,546 people in China.
Outside China, there have been more than 320 infections reported in nearly 30 other places. There have also been two deaths, one in the Philippines and the other in Hong Kong. Both of those victims were Chinese nationals.
On Saturday, it was reported the virus had claimed its first two foreign victims - a US citizen who was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and a Japanese man suspected to have the infection. Both died in Wuhan.
[h=3]BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage on the novel coronavirus and its developments[/h]Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
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