All close contacts of a man from Bury who contracted coronavirus in Italy are being tested for the virus.

The man 'immediately' self-isolated after returning to Bury and was 'quickly' tested, Bury council's director for public health Lesley Jones said.

He has been transferred to a specialist hospital in London.

The Manchester Evening News understands the man flew back to the UK from Milan .

Health officials wouldn't confirm when he returned, when he was tested or which airport he flew into.

Mrs Jones said the man 'did the right thing' by self isolating on his return to the UK.

She said: "The individual returned to Bury from Italy and immediately self-isolated.

"He was quickly tested and was confirmed (to have the virus).

"He has been taken to a special centre. He did the right thing by self isolating.

"Public Health England have made contact with the contacts in Bury and are following that through.

"It will be standard practice for close contacts to be tested."

The Bury man was one of 12 patients confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday - bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 35.

Mrs Jones said there was currently 'no question' of schools in Bury closing, saying the 'risk to the community remains low'.

She added: "In the future any decisions will be based on the spread of the virus

"We are obviously planning for if the situation changes, we would be expected to plan for a reasonable worst case scenario.

"If it becomes more widespread we would move into the mitigation phase.

"That would come from Public Health England and those decisions would be fed into decisions about school closures, travel advice, large scale gatherings.

"But we are not there yet."

A spokesperson for Bury council earlier said they are working closely with health authorities to ensure that the people of Bury are protected, and kept well informed.