Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 31 Jan 2020, 09:03 pm Print
Rome/Sputnik: A dozen Chinese citizens who have been hospitalized with the primary symptoms of coronavirus are being tested for the infection by experts of Italy's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Emanuele Nicastri, an infectious disease specialist from the Institute, said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed the first two cases of the new strain of the virus in his country.
"Spallanzani hospitalized 12 other patients with similar symptoms from other regions of China. They are being tested for coronavirus," Nicastri said at a press conference in Rome.
According to the doctor, 20 people who may have been in contact with the two Chinese nationals who were previously confirmed as being infected with the disease are currently under observation in the hospital.
The outbreak began in late December in the central Chinese province of Hubei.
Its capital, Wuhan, has since been quarantined along with several other cities that China's authorities deem as hotbeds of infection.
Other nations are arranging charter flights to evacuate their nationals, and the number of those that limit arrivals from China continues to grow.
The current toll of lethal cases stands at 213 — all in China — and over 9,800 people have been infected in the Asian country.
- Avian flu reported in 108 countries, alerts UN health agency
- Birth registration increases, but 150 million children still ‘invisible’, shows new UNICEF report
- WHO alerts over 1 in 5 adults worldwide has a genital herpes infection
- New study shows short-term cognitive boost from exercise may last for 24 hours, new study reveals
- Bird flu may emerge as next global pandemic, warn experts
