The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has doubled after four people came into contact with a man thought to be a "superspreader".

They were all infected after contact in France with the UK's third confirmed coronavirus patient - a businessman who contracted the virus in Singapore and was diagnosed in Brighton.

The four new patients, which bring the total infected to eight, have been transferred to infectious disease units at Guy's and St Thomas' and The Royal Free hospitals in London.

French authorities said on Sunday five Britons, including a nine-year-old child, had been diagnosed with the disease.

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They had been staying in the same chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie as the British businessman and are not in a serious condition in hospital in France, French authorities said.

Another British man who came into contact with the infected businessman in the same French resort was confirmed as having coronavirus in Majorca on Sunday, while his wife and two daughters tested negative.

Image: Five British people were infected with coronavirus after sharing a chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, France, with another British person infected in Singapore

The man who they have come in contact with is thought to be a "superspreader" - a person who has a disproportionately higher ability to infect others with a virus, sometimes through how their immune system works or through travelling a lot and having contact with many people.

Image: The movements of the 'superspreader'

Eleven cases, all Britons, have been linked to him - five in the UK, five in France and one in Majorca.

Coronavirus: Residents dragged from flat

easyJet confirmed the businessman flew from Geneva to the UK on 28 January.

England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: "Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases.

"They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided."

The latest coronavirus outbreak updates:

The global number of deaths is 910, with 908 in China, including an American and a Japanese person

A total of 97 people died of coronavirus in China on Sunday - the largest in a single day since the outbreak was detected in mid-December, denting optimism the death control measures are fighting the outbreak

On Sunday, 3,062 new virus cases were reported in China - a 15% increase from the day before, bringing the total to 40,171, including 27 foreigners

More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, with two deaths

The total number of deaths exceeds the 774 killed by the 2002/3 SARS outbreak

Confirmed cases of the new virus vastly exceed the 8,098 infected by SARS

'My jackets stopped me leaving Wuhan'

The first people in the UK to test positive for the virus were a student at the University of York and their relative on 31 January, having recently returned from China.

On 6 February, a third person - the first British national and the supposed superspreader - tested positive for coronavirus in the UK.

He also visited The Grenadier pub in Hove, next to Brighton, which said it has been told by Public Health England there is "minimal ongoing risk of infection to either guests or staff, so please be reassured that the pub remains open for business as usual".

And on 9 February, a fourth person was confirmed as having the virus, having acquired it in Les Contamines-Montjoie where they had been staying in a chalet with the UK's third confirmed case.

Following the arrival of the UK's second evacuation flight from Wuhan on Sunday, the government declared on Monday the spread of coronavirus is a "serious and imminent threat" to the British public - giving health professionals legal powers to keep those in supported isolation after one patient tried to escape from Arrowe Park Hospital.