HONG KONG: More than 100 people were evacuated from a Hong Kong housing block on Tuesday (Feb 11) after four residents in two different apartments tested positive for the symptoms of the coronavirus outbreak. Hong Kong is on high alert for any potential "super spreader" events, especially in the towering housing blocks that make the city one of the world's most densely populated places. During the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 299 people in Hong Kong, 42 deaths came from just one housing block where about 300 people were infected. There are now 49 confirmed cases of the virus in Hong Kong, including a cluster of 10 family members who had all shared a hotpot meal with an infected person. The SARS epidemic left profound psychological scars on Hong Kong and saddled locals with a deep distrust of authorities in Beijing who initially covered up the outbreak.

Source: The Star February 11, 2020 13:30 UTC