Coronavirus: 10 new cases confirmed, 30 more suspected in Wuhan after thousands attend Lunar New Year banquet
- 57 buildings in residential community of 130,000 people get ‘fever’ tag after mass feast on January 19
- In Fujian province, 4,000 people put in isolation after man infected with virus lies so he can attend banquet, wedding reception
The Thousands Households Banquet was held on January 19 in the city’s Baibuting neighbourhood, which is home to about 130,000 people, The Economic Observer reported on Wednesday.
The mayor of Wuhan said on state television just days later that the threat posed by the coronavirus had been underestimated.
People began falling sick soon after attending the banquet and as a result 57 residential blocks within the community – each home to about 14 families – were subsequently designated “fever” buildings, business news outlet Caixin said on its website.
“The signs were posted without people being told what they meant or what they should do,” an unnamed resident was quoted as saying.
Another resident said most of the people who had been infected were elderly, and that there was at least one case in his building.
“Local community officers take them daily necessities from time to time,” he said.
A report by The Beijing News quoted one such officer as saying that the “fever” signs did not necessarily mean there was someone inside who had been infected.
“We posted the signs to remind residents not to visit each other. As of now, nobody has been confirmed as having the disease,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Jinjiang, southeast China’s Fujian province, 4,000 people have been put in isolation after coming into contact with a man from Wuhan who attended a Lunar New Year banquet and wedding reception in the city on Sunday, The Beijing News reported.
After he was diagnosed as being infected with the coronavirus, all of the guests who had been at the two events were told to go into isolation for two weeks, the report said.
As the deadly virus continues to spread, authorities across China are urging people to avoid gathering in large groups.
As well as locking down whole cities and closing down roads, police have even been cracking down on people getting together to play mahjong.
Officers on Saturday shut down a game in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, after finding eight people playing in a poorly ventilated basement, Zhejiang Television reported.
Last week, police in Nanchong, Sichuan province, raided a venue where people were playing mahjong and smashed up 16 automatic tables to shuffle tiles.
