Coronavirus: Couple appear at own wedding via live-stream after returning from China amid virus fears

Guests had threatened to stay away from couple's nuptials over concerns they may be infected

The spread of coronavirus has disrupted Chinese new year celebrations, sporting events and even weddings (Getty Images)

A couple who returned from China days before their wedding placed themselves in quarantine and live-streamed their marriage to allay guests’ fears about coronavirus.

Joseph Yew and Kang Ting, from Singapore, steered clear of their own reception and toasted friends and family over video to eliminate the risk of them passing on the virus if infected.

They had spent a week visiting Ms Kang’s family in China’s Hunan province before returning home on 30 January, three days before their wedding was scheduled to take place at a hotel in central Singapore.

But when guests expressed concerns about attending, the couple were forced to think outside the box.

"Some of them said they were not coming," Mr Yew told the BBC. "We wanted to postpone the wedding but the hotel was not willing to. They said everything had been arranged and it was non-negotiable. So we felt like we had no choice but to proceed with the wedding.”

The couple hosted a reception for their guests in the hotel’s banquet hall, and delivered speeches and popped champagne over video from their suite in the same building.

Mr Yew said some of their guests were “shocked” when they learned of their plans, but added: "I think if we had been there, the atmosphere would be different. People would have been wary.

"My parents were not [happy about it] at first but they eventually agreed."

Ms Kang’s parents were unable to attend the wedding due to travel restrictions imposed to stem the spread of coronavirus, which has killed 563 people in China.

Mr Yew said he and his wife were “not sad but a bit disappointed” to have missed their own wedding.

"I think there were no other options, so no regrets,” he added.

The couple had officially tied the knot in China in October, but planned a second ceremony in Singapore for friends and family who had been unable to make the first.

There have been 28 confirmed coronavirus cases – none of them fatal - in Singapore, more than any country other than China and Japan. The patients include a six-month-old baby whose parents were also infected.

The World Health Organisation said on Thursday it had opened an investigation into three infections linked to an international business meeting in Singapore last month.

Case in Malaysia and South Korea have been linked to the meeting of staff from an as-yet-unnamed multinational sales firm. One of the 100 people in attendance was from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated.