Three branches of a Hong Kong yoga and fitness chain have closed after a user tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, according to a notice sent to members.

Pure Fitness announced on Thursday that a member visited its facilities at California Tower last Wednesday, ICBC Tower last Saturday and Kinwick Centre on Monday. All three of the branches are in Central. The person reportedly first experienced symptoms of Covid-19 on Tuesday and was confirmed to have been infected the next day.

pure fitness virus

The facilities closed at 7:30pm on Thursday and will remain shut for around two weeks, staff at ICBC Tower and Kinwick Centre told HKFP. However, more than a dozen of its other branches will remain open.

“These three locations have been deep-cleaned and disinfected by a third party cleaning service (A-Class System Company Limited) using Ecolab disinfectant products,” the message to customers read. “All three locations have been deep cleaned and are safe to use, and the Pure environment continues to be healthy.”

The announcement came amid a surge in global coronavirus cases. First detected in China’s Hubei province, Covid-19 has infected more than 221,000 people leading to more than 8,900 deaths across at least 159 countries and regions.

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File photo: GovHK.

All but three of the newly-confirmed cases had travelled abroad during their incubation periods, mainly to Europe and the UK, according to the Centre for Health Protection.

The incubation period for Covid-19 ranges from one to 14 days – most commonly five days, according to the World Health Organization.

Jennifer Creery is a Hong Kong-born British journalist, interested in minority rights and urban planning. She holds a BA in English at King's College London and has studied Mandarin at National Taiwan University.