SINGAPORE: A business meeting at Grand Hyatt Singapore that has been linked to several novel coronavirus cases in South Korea and Malaysia was attended by 109 participants, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (Feb 5).

All the attendees at the Jan 20 to Jan 22 private business meeting were from one company, said MOH.



Of the participants, 15 were Singapore residents and 94 were from overseas.



Four of the 15 Singapore residents reported having symptoms and have been referred to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases for assessment, said MOH. The remaining 11 are well.

All of the foreign participants have left Singapore, said MOH, adding that it has informed the relevant overseas health authorities.

Malaysia announced on Tuesday that a 42-year-old Malaysian man who had been at the business meeting developed symptoms on Jan 29 and subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus on Feb 3.

Malaysian authorities are tracking his close contacts.

On Wednesday, South Korea reported that two of its citizens - a 38-year-old man and a 36-year-old man - who had attended the business meeting at the hotel had also been infected.

A spokesman for the Grand Hyatt Hotel confirmed on Wednesday that the Malaysian had stayed at the hotel for a week in mid-January.

He added that the hotel has been deep cleaned and it is not aware of any other cases among its hotel guests or staff.

The coronavirus have killed nearly 500 people and infected more than 24,000 in China.

The disease is believed to have emerged in December in a Wuhan market that sold wild animals, and spread rapidly as people travelled for the Chinese New Year holiday in January.

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