A British, believed to have contracted the virus after attending a business meeting in Singapore, managed to infect more people after he stayed for four days in the chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie late in January. There he stayed in the same lodging with another British family.
The unidentified Briton, third confirmed case in the United Kingdom, infected the family, including a child who attends a school near the village.
A new case in Mallorca, Spain was also being traced to the Briton who had been in Singapore. Spanish health officials said another British man tested positive after being in contact with the Briton in France. The Mallorca case became Spain's fourth coronavirus case.
The case now raised the question of how airport travel also opened people to a high risk of contracting the virus. Some experts believe, if travel bans are employed, it should be a total lockdown of air travel so people stay where they are and respective countries should handle the matter whether they are foreign nationals or not. On the other hand, some experts opined that this may pose a breach of travel laws.
French officials continue to track down the activities of the Britons, gathering all people that may have come in contact. In total, from one British man, 11 Britons are now believed to have spread the virus.
As of press time, three British children are under observation in a French hospital. The children are believed to be in the same school as that one child who might have contracted the virus from the French lodging at Les Contamines-Montjoie. Two more schools nearby will have to be monitored for possible contact with the children.
In Singapore, there were already cases of transmission with the latest being locals who merely visited a local establishment that a group of Chinese tourists visited last month as well.
With cases of people contracting the virus even without them traveling to China, Chief of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom called for nations to prepare the possible arrival of the infection.
To date, the virus has already infected people in at least 25 countries. Nations continue to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan while airlines have been canceling flights to and from China.
Meanwhile, 14 Americans were the latest to be confirmed of infection on board the Diamond Princess cruise, which was docked in Japan. The cruise put 3,700 passengers and crewmembers in quarantine as the ship docked on a Japanese port.
The latest count is that 64 individuals were infected. All of them were pulled out from the cruise ship and admitted for medical care in Yokohama,
Those who had close contact with the infected passengers are being quarantined for more than 14 days, beyond the original schedule on February 19.
In Wuhan, an American was the first non-local to die there and the first non-Chinese to die of the disease followed by a Japanese citizen.
