Man catches coronavirus after using same stairs as ill neighbor

A man in Beijing has contracted the novel coronavirus after allegedly using the same stairwell as his sick neighbor who brought the bug from the UK, according to Chinese officials.

Liu, 42, tested positive nine days after his downstairs neighbor, Li, was diagnosed and they had walked on the same staircase in their building before Li was hospitalised, authorities said.

Doctors believe Li had contaminated the stairwell and its environment before being put into quarantine, leading Liu to be infected.

Liu is the first patient in Beijing who has caught the deadly disease, known as COVID-19, from someone arriving from abroad, according to officials.

Pang Xinghuo, the deputy director of the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, reported the case at a press conference yesterday.

According to the spokesperson, Li arrived in Beijing on March 5 and went into self-isolation at home right afterwards.

Li went out to shops and did activities in the residential complex during the period.

The individual, whose gender has not been revealed, walked down the stairs on March 7 to apply for a door pass from the local authority and then fell ill on March 9.

Li used the stairs again on March 11 to leave the building and go to Haidian Hospital before being diagnosed the next day.

Li’s upstairs neighbour Liu started to experience fatigue and fevers on March 10. After he took medicine, his temperature dropped to normal.

On March 14 after hearing that someone in the complex had been diagnosed, Liu went to Haidian Hospital to seek medical advice and was given medication to take at home.

He developed high fevers again on March 17 and took Tylenol and coughing syrup. He went back to the hospital for further checks on the night of March 20 and was given throat swabs. The result came back positive the next day.

Liu’s wife showed no symptoms and tested negative.

Local officials have arranged all residents in the building to receive coronavirus tests and disinfected the stairwell.