Commonground
Senior Moderator
[h=2]Authorities try to monitor participants at Grand Hyatt event, while Singapore raises its disease alert level[/h] Updated Feb. 7, 2020 7:34 am ET
SINGAPORE—For three days in January, 109 people from different countries gathered for a business meeting at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, a luxury hotel in the heart of the city’s main shopping area. They shook hands and ate meals together. Then they went home.
Not long after, a Malaysian participant developed a cough and fever. Two men from South Korea fell sick. A 27-year-old Singaporean—one of only 15 attendees who hadn’t come from abroad—reported symptoms. All four tested positive for the new coronavirus this week, raising concerns about the spread of the illness from countries other than China.
Singapore on Friday also confirmed three new cases of infected citizens who have no known links to previous cases and haven’t recently traveled to China. Two of them visited Malaysia last month, though authorities said it isn’t yet known where and how they caught the illness. These developments prompted the country to raise its alert level from yellow to orange Friday, which indicates the disease is severe and transmits easily but hasn’t yet spread widely in Singapore.
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The Malaysian participant’s sister tested positive this week. Three other Singaporeans who were at the meeting and reported symptoms are being monitored. One of the South Korean men who later tested positive for the virus visited health facilities and restaurants after he showed symptoms and came into contact with 188 people, who are being closely monitored, authorities said.
Continued: https://www.wsj.com/articles/busine...-becomes-latest-coronavirus-focus-11581078530
SINGAPORE—For three days in January, 109 people from different countries gathered for a business meeting at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, a luxury hotel in the heart of the city’s main shopping area. They shook hands and ate meals together. Then they went home.
Not long after, a Malaysian participant developed a cough and fever. Two men from South Korea fell sick. A 27-year-old Singaporean—one of only 15 attendees who hadn’t come from abroad—reported symptoms. All four tested positive for the new coronavirus this week, raising concerns about the spread of the illness from countries other than China.
Singapore on Friday also confirmed three new cases of infected citizens who have no known links to previous cases and haven’t recently traveled to China. Two of them visited Malaysia last month, though authorities said it isn’t yet known where and how they caught the illness. These developments prompted the country to raise its alert level from yellow to orange Friday, which indicates the disease is severe and transmits easily but hasn’t yet spread widely in Singapore.
-snip-
The Malaysian participant’s sister tested positive this week. Three other Singaporeans who were at the meeting and reported symptoms are being monitored. One of the South Korean men who later tested positive for the virus visited health facilities and restaurants after he showed symptoms and came into contact with 188 people, who are being closely monitored, authorities said.
Continued: https://www.wsj.com/articles/busine...-becomes-latest-coronavirus-focus-11581078530