Governments restrict travel to Italy as coronavirus infections spread

Lawmaker Matteo Dall'Osso wearsing a sanitary mask during a work session in the Italian lower chamber Tuesday (Feb 25). Civil protection officials on Tuesday reported a large jump of cases in Italy, from 222 to 283. Seven people have died, all of them elderly people suffering other pathologies. - AP

BEIJING/ROME: Governments around the world imposed restrictions on travel to and from Italy on Tuesday (Feb 25) as a Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak there led to the deaths of seven people and 283 infections. The novel virus originated in Wuhan, China, and has since spread around the globe despite restrictive measures, with Italy's outbreak the third largest after those in South Korea and China. In Italy, the virus is concentrated in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, but on Tuesday cases were also reported in Tuscany, South Tyrol and Sicily. The country's government has specified particular lockdown areas in northern Italy, and many governments provided advice pertaining to these specific areas as well as northern Italy more generally. Alongside travel bans, governments recommended their citizens refrain from travel or suggested quarantine for people returning from Italy. Several airlines moved to cancel flights to Italy in response. In Greece and Croatia, governments banned school trips to Italy. The French government said students returning from holidays in northern Italy would have to be quarantined and would not be accepted directly back into schools. Governments in Israel and Ireland issued warnings to travellers who were heading to Italy. The Irish government's advice was to be aware of the symptoms of the virus and to practise the "usual precautions" to protect themselves including avoiding contact with people suffering from the virus, frequent hand washing and exercising cough etiquette. Austria on Monday warned its citizens against travelling to the 11 northern Italian communities affected by the outbreak of the virus. The Foreign Ministry also said that travellers to the affected Italian regions should avoid large gatherings of people. Taiwan on Tuesday updated its official advice for Italy, urging its citizens travelling there to take enhanced precautions. Britain's Foreign Office likewise urged people coming into the country from northern Italy to go into self-isolation. Its advice also applied to people returned from specific parts of Asia, including South Korea and China. The British government's travel advice distinguished between those returning from areas covered by the lockdown in northern Italy, and those returning from an area of Northern Italy defined by a "line above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini." Those returning from the lockdown areas should "stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if [they] do not have symptoms." Returnees should also call a government health-care telephone number. Returnees from areas outside the lockdown should stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they developed any symptoms, however mild, the British government said, but noted that travellers did not need to follow this advice if they had no symptoms. Kuwait on Tuesday blocked incoming flights from Italy, as well as South Korea and Thailand, the country's news agency Kuna reported. The coronavirus first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December and has since spread to about a dozen countries. - dpa/Asian News Network