Five Britons diagnosed with coronavirus in a French ski chalet caught the killer infection from a Brighton man who stayed at the same resort.

This middle-aged patient had flown from Singapore to the Alpine village of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc where he spent four days.

But he only displayed symptoms of the highly contagious bug on his return to the UK, where he was quarantined as the third coronavirus patient on British soil.

Yet not before he infected the five fellow Britons - including one nine-year-old boy - who all tested positive with the disease in France today.

Six other UK nationals who had come into close contact with them at the resort were also taken to hospital last night in Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble.

'They were all staying in a chalet in Contamines-Montjoie when some complained of feeling unwell,' said a health ministry source in Paris of the five new patients.

'The 11 are now in isolation in three hospitals in the Haute Savoie region, with care and tests ongoing. Five have the Coronavirus, including a child.'

The mayor of Contamines-Montjoie revealed three of the children being probed -including the confirmed case - attend the same school, which will remain shut next week.

Five Britons diagnosed with coronavirus in a French ski chalet (pictured) caught the killer infection from a Brighton man who stayed at the same resort

The UK patient who arrived in France from Singapore on January 24 had been attending a business conference at a £1,000-a-night hotel in the Asian country

According to Le Figaro, Agnès Buzyn (pictured) the infected British man stayed in a chalet in Contamines-Montjoie, in Haute-Savoie between the 24 and 28 January

An undated file photo shows an image of the Contamines-Montjoie village resort in Haute-Savoie in France

A locator map shows the Contamines-Montjoie ski resort in the French alps

Coronavirus could be spread through DIARRHOEA, experts warn Coronavirus could be spread through diarrhoea, according to a new study. As of Saturday more than 700 people have been killed by the virus, with 86 people dying on Friday alone. More than 34,500 globally have been infected. The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it extremely contagious. It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. Now, researchers have said that studies mostly looked at patients with symptoms relating the respiratory system, The Sun reports. Because of this, experts could have skimmed over symptoms related to the digestive tract, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Out of 138 patients in a Wuhan hospital, 14 had diarrhoea and nausea before they got a fever and had laboured breathing. The first US patient diagnosed with coronavirus had diarrhoea for two days and the virus was later found in his faeces. Advertisement

The UK patient who arrived in France from Singapore on January 24 had been attending a business conference at a £1,000-a-night hotel in the Asian country.

The gathering at the luxury-laced Grand Hyatt comprised more than 100 people and has been linked to the spread of coronavirus in at least three other states.

On return to Britain, he suffered flu-like symptoms and took himself to A&E at the Royal Sussex in Brighton on Sunday, February 1.

The anonymous victim was then whisked 55 miles to a specialist infectious diseases unit at Guy's Hospital in London yesterday, where he will remain in isolation for at least two weeks.

Coronavirus has a 14-day incubation period where a patient may not display symptoms but can still infect others by coughs and sneezes.

Since it spawned in Wuhan, China, late last year, the virus has infected 34,914 worldwide and has killed 724.

Contamines-Montjoie is a village ski resort attached to a 5,500 hectare nature reserve. It's connected to Evasion Mont-Blanc, with 220 miles of ski pistes.

Two of the apartments in the ski chalet were being examined, health officials said, adding that no other people had been affected by the outbreak in the resort.

Ms Buzyn said the unnamed patients were in a 'stable condition' and they were being monitored constantly.

An undated file photo shows the Les Contamines alpine village in the French Alps

A graphic shows countries affected with the coronavirus as of 11.23am (GMT) on 8 February

The first apartment housed three people, who were diagnosed positive with the coronavirus. Four others, were deemed to be suffering from minor symptoms.

In the second apartment, a father and child were also infected and their mother, who was in Britain, was treated at home.

The contaminated child is a nine-year-old boy who lives in Contamines-Montjoie with her parents and two siblings.

Jean-Yves Grall, the head of the regional health authority, said the child's mother 'was in Britain taking exams' at the time of the contamination.

Mr Grall said the infected child had attended school in Contamines-Montjoie and also spent a day at a second school in the nearby town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.

Mayor and Departmental Councilor of Mont-Blanc Jean-Marc Peillex wrote in a statement: 'To avoid unnecessary interpretation and panic, the English student who was infected [...] took a French class with four other students on Thursday morning.

'I learned that as a caution the first minister had decided to close the schools in Contamines and Saint-Gervais.'

Etienne Jacquet, the mayor of Contamines-Montjoie, said: 'I was called by the regional health agency at 12.30am on Saturday about two British families. Seven were in one chalet and four in another. Of the 11 people, five have tested positive for the coronavirus.'

'Their clinical condition shows no sign of seriousness,' said the minister, who added that the French authorities were trying to contact family of the British national.

Buzyn said the group of newly-infected people with the virus formed 'a cluster, a grouping around one original case.'

Pictured: A general view of the Son Espases Hospital in the Majorca capital, Palma, where a British man is today under quarantine

'That original case was brought to our attention last night, it is a British national who had returned from Singapore where he had stayed between January 20 and 23, and he arrived in France on January 24 for four days,' Buzyn said, adding that the latest outbreak had occurred in the mountainous region of Savoie in eastern France

Singapore's use as a transport hub in south-east Asia means it could be a contaminating zone for the virus.

'We may well find further international cases that have travelled through Singapore,' Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, told the MailOnline.

A view of the house where five British nationals including a child were staying at the French Alpine resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie

'This cluster of cases in France illustrates how the coronavirus can spread to countries indirectly of China.

'The French ski resort will have citizens from numerous other countries there, so there are implications for potential onward transmission.

'Hopefully further people will not also have been exposed and infected, and this specific localised outbreak can be immediately contained.'

According to the French health ministry, a crisis unit has been set up and people who have been in close and prolonged contact with these new cases will be informed during the day and given specific instructions.

The confirmed cases in France came as a British honeymooner transferred from the cruise liner Diamond Princess to hospital in Japan with the coronavirus was said to be feeling well and in good spirits.

Briton Alan Steele, pictured with his new wife Wendy, was taken off the Diamond Princess cruise liner yesterday and sent to hospital after testing positive for the virus

Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, was moved to hospital on Friday while his wife Wendy remained on board the ship.

The liner had been isolated in the port of Yokohama before going back out to sea, with 61 people having been taken to hospitals after testing positive for the virus.

Wendy Marshall Steele has been in telephone contact with her husband. She said on Saturday that he was still feeling healthy.

'Alan is well, Japanese doctors are excellent,' she posted on Facebook.

'He is in a little room. Just Dr and nurse visit him.'

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Mrs Marshall Steele said she was also well but had 'cabin fever' as she continued to be confined to her room on the ship, a status shared with nearly 3,700 other passengers and crew.

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'It was a hard first night without Alan. But hey, we are constantly in touch. Japanese doctors are excellent and he is in safe hands,' she wrote.

A total of 78 British passport holders - including crew - were among those who boarded the ship, sources said.

The ship's operator, Princess Cruises, said the vessel's quarantine was due to end on February 19, barring 'unforeseen developments', and confirmed all affected guests were being taken to hospitals.

The total number of people infected with the virus in France has now reached 11.

The six others include one man in a serious condition, while the others have shown signs of improvement in recent days, according to medical officials.

On Sunday, 40 French people are to be repatriated from China, where more than 700 people have been killed by the virus, and 34,000 cases have been detected.

The first cases of Coronavirus arrived in France at the end of January, among ill people recently arrived from China.

Public health officials around the world are trying to contain the new virus that first appeared in the seafood market at Wuhan, China, at the start of December.

Coronaviruses are common in animals of all kinds, and sometimes can evolve into forms that can infect humans.

Since the start of the century, two other coronaviruses have jumped to humans, causing the SARS outbreak in 2002 and the MERS outbreak in 2012.

Four British people were admitted to hospital on the holiday island of Majorca today after coming into contact with a coronavirus sufferer.

China has demanded four types of people in Wuhan to be put into mandatory isolation in quarantine stations: confirmed cases, suspected cases, people who have close contact with the former two, and those who have fever. Pictured, patients rest at a makeshift hospital in Wuhan

Medical workers in protective suits are seen talking while at the Wuhan Parlor Convention Center on Friday. Wuhan has around 14 million residents, but it remains unknown how many people would be quarantined or where they will be kept

Local authorities said they are a couple and their two children.

The father has been quarantined at the island's main hospital Son Espases.

His wife and kids have also been admitted to the same hospital in the capital Palma after tests to see if they have the killer virus.

His wife and children were admitted after he was quarantined.

The results of tests on all four will be analysed at a lab in Madrid and not are expected to be back at the hospital until after the weekend.

None of the four Brits are said to be showing any signs of ill health.

The regional health authority confirmed in a statement the coronavirus emergency protocol had been activated.

The news comes almost a week after two Chinese nationals, a University of York student and his mother, were confirmed to have the lethal virus and they have been quarantined at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.