Four huge Hong Kong restaurant chains have stopped offering hotpots after a doctor on Monday maintained in a radio interview that the conditions created by the simmering broth could facilitate the spread of coronavirus — a claim others in the field were quick to rebut.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Joseph Tsang Kay-yan first made the suggestion the that the continuous in an interview with RTHK following reports that several members of a local family had been infected following a family gathering where the dish was served.
鈥淭he heat emitted by the circulation of the steam can cause the water content in the droplets spread by the virus-infected patient [by speaking, sneezing or coughing] to evaporate, making the droplet smaller and lighter and therefore it can spread farther,鈥 Tsang said.
He added that the ventilation systems commonly found in hot pot restaurants could further circulate the virus.
鈥淥verall speaking, [sharing a hot-pot meal] is a dangerous activity,鈥 he said, also noting the increased likelihood of the disease鈥檚 spread in close quarters.
Hours later, four ubiquitous casual restaurant chains 鈥 Fairwood, Cafe de Coral, Maxim鈥檚 MX, and Yoshinoya (the latter two being owned by Maxim鈥檚 Catering Group) 鈥 said that as part of stepped-up anti-virus measures, Headline News reports.
However, other medical experts were quick to point out that there was currently no evidence to support Tsang鈥檚 theory.
Professor Wong Tsz-wai, adjunct professor of public health and primary care at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), said in a radio interview on Monday that, “Theoretically speaking, , be they the carrier of the virus or not.鈥
鈥淚nstead, close contact between people when they are dining will enhance the infection,鈥 he added, noting that the virus itself is already quite contagious without the purported boost from hotpot steam.
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, associate director of the faculty of Public Health and Primary Care at CUHK, , telling NowTV that the heat from the steam generated from hotpot, which can reach as high as 60 degrees celsius, should actually be capable of killing the virus.
鈥淭he reason why diners would be infected is mostly that they are sitting too close to each other,鈥 Hui said.
The hotpot fears appear to be linked to news that at least 10 people from the same family had been diagnosed with the coronavirus after participating in a hotpot meal over the Lunar New Year holiday. Two of those people , prompting the restaurant group to disinfect and close the two locations where they worked for two weeks, RTHK reports.
So far, the total number of coronavirus cases in Hong Kong stands at 38.
