9 family members in Hong Kong infected with coronavirus after sharing hot pot & BBQ

A 91-year-old grandmother was among the nine who were diagnosed.

Kayla Wong | February 10, 2020, 05:08 PM

After a 24-year-old man in Hong Kong was found to be infected with the coronavirus (nCoV), eight of his family members were diagnosed with the virus as well.

Family had hot pot together

According to Ming Pao, the family had hot pot and BBQ together on Jan. 26 at a restaurant in Kwun Tong, a day before the man was diagnosed with the nCoV.

A total of 19 family members attended the gathering.

The restaurant had since closed operations, and started contact tracing by contacting those who visited the place after Jan. 26.

The man was asymptomatic when he went for the family gathering, according to HK01

Ming Pao reported that after the man started having a fever and cough from Jan. 30, he went to see a doctor.

However, his fever failed to come down and he went to seek treatment at Ruttonjee Hospital.

He was diagnosed with the nCoV on Sunday morning, Feb. 9.

Eight other family members diagnosed with nCoV

His maternal grandmother, aged 91, was later diagnosed with the nCoV as well.

She was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 1 after experiencing a fever and swelling on her right leg.

The man and his grandmother are the 27th and 29th confirmed cases of the nCoV in Hong Kong.

Ming Pao reported that seven other family members were later diagnosed with the nCoV as well.

The family members included the man's 68-year-old father, 57-year-old mother, as well as his aunts and cousins.

They have all been admitted to Ruttonjee Hospital and Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for treatment. 

The new cases bring Hong Kong's total confirmed cases to 36.

Top image adapted via MingPao & Vlad Vasnetsov/Pixabay