Wuhan neighbourhood sees infections after 40,000 families gather for potluck

Medical staff members wearing protective clothing arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan on January 25, 2020. - AFP

WUHAN (The Straits Times/ANN): A neighbourhood in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where a new coronavirus first broke out, reported at least 10 cases of infection after the local government allowed 40,000 families to gather and share their home-cooked food in a Lunar New Year banquet last month, even as the bug creeps across the city.

Many residents of Hubei province's Baibuting community, which covers an area of 4sq km with a population of 130,000, came down with fever after the traditional event on Jan 18, prompting local authorities to label 57 of its residential buildings as "fever buildings", Caixin Global reported.