Apartment infections raise fear of coronavirus transmission via bathroom pipes

Health officials in Hong Kong have partially evacuated residents from an apartment block over fears the coronavirus may have been transmitted via the building's pipes.

Two residents living on different floors of a high-rise tower called Hong Mei House had been infected with coronavirus.

A 62-year-old woman was diagnosed with the virus about a week-and-a-half after a 75-year-old man in the same building became infected.

CNN reports three more cases have since been linked to Hong Mei House.

The woman's son, his wife and her father have been diagnosed with the virus.

The mother, son and wife share an apartment.

Health authorities evacuated residents living in apartments numbered seven on all 30 floors of the building because their toilet discharge pipes were linked.

The possibility of the virus being transmitted through pipes immediately drew comparisons to the 2003 SARS outbreak, when this method became a major source of transmission.

[Source: CNN]