Coronavirus latest: Five ski chalet Brits catch virus in France as death toll hits 722 in China

Five British people – including a nine-year-old girl – are being treated for coronavirus in France after catching the deadly disease at a ski resort.

The four adults and child tested positive after being taken to hospital on Friday night.

Six other Britons have also been taken to hospital from the Alpine resort of Contamines-Montjoie for tests.

The 11 – who are in isolation in hospitals in Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble – are two families who were staying in separate apartments.

They had come into contact with an English holidaymaker who spent four days in France after a business trip to Singapore. He then returned home to Brighton and is now the UK’s third confirmed case of coronavirus.

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, five have tested positive for the coronavirus.”

The nine-year-old lives in the resort with their parents and two siblings. Their mother was unaffected as she had returned to the UK to sit an exam.

The infected child goes to school in Contamines-Montjoie and had recently visited a second school in the nearby town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.

Officials are now trying to determine who the child came into contact with. The schools will be shut next week as a precaution.

French health minister Agnes Buzyn said the five patients were not in a serious condition.

Those infected with the virus were “a cluster, a grouping around one original case”, Ms Buzyn said.

She said: “That original case was brought to our attention on Friday 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.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are in close touch with the French authorities and stand ready to offer any support.”

A British couple and their two daughters have also been admitted to hospital on the Spanish island of Majorca after the father came into contact with a coronavirus sufferer.

The 46-year-old dad, who lives in Majorca, has been placed in quarantine after reporting he had flu-like symptoms a week earlier.

His wife and children, aged seven and 10, are undergoing tests in the Son Espases Hospital in Palma. The 10-year-old had a fever and has tested positive for a common strain of flu.

Jordi Reina, head of virology at the hospital, said: “All have been placed in isolation in two rooms, with a parent and one of the children in each room.”

The family should have their full test results within 48 hours.

No cases have so far been detected in Scotland.

A Glasgow-born bride has been documenting her husband’s progress on social media after he tested positive for coronavirus during their honeymoon cruise around east Asia.

Wendy Marshall Steele, 51, is in quarantine on the liner Diamond Princess while husband Alan, 58 is among 61 passengers who have caught the virus.

He was taken to hospital in Japan and Mrs Marshall Steele said his temperature is now in the normal range and the couple, from Wolverhampton, are hoping to be reunited soon.

Mr Steele wrote on Facebook: “Have been informed that I might possibly be free by Thursday or Friday, so here is hoping.”

Meanwhile, a Chinese ­takeaway in Arbroath has been forced to close as staff have been quarantined after visiting China.

A notice on the window of the Millfield Kitchen in the Angus town advises customers: “Due to staff having to be quarantined after coming back from China, we will be open on the 18th.”

The Scottish Government say the quarantine is “standard practice” and so far none of the 38 people tested so far have shown signs of having the virus.

The Department of Health and Social Care said 686 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus as of 2pm yesterday.

Three have tested positive, including the man from Brighton who had travelled from Singapore.

The final flight chartered by the Foreign Office to bring British citizens home from Wuhan will touch down at RAF Brize Norton this morning.

About 150 passengers will be on board and they will be taken to a conference centre and hotel in Milton Keynes, which will be used as a quarantine facility.