The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned Irish people against non-essential travel to parts of northern Italy, including Milan and Venice, after emergency measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak were announced.

The department’s updated travel advice covers areas of Italy, where an estimated 16 million people live, that have been put in effective quarantine following a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.

The emergency measures say people should not enter or leave Lombardy, Italy’s richest region, and 14 provinces in four other regions, which include cities such as Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Rimini.

The move came in response to the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increasing by more than 1,200 in a 24-hour period this weekend - the largest increase since the country’s outbreak began two weeks ago.

Deaths attributed to the virus increased to 233 and the number of patients in intensive care as a result of the outbreak has risen to 567 (up 23 per cent).

Unprecedented

The unprecedented restrictions are to remain in force until April 3rd after being signed into law by prime minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday night.

Mr Conte said nobody would be allowed to move in or out of the areas covered by the restrictions, or within them, unless they had proven, work-related reasons for doing so, or health issues.

“We are facing a national emergency ... we have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed,” he said.

In its updated travel advice, the department said that until “further notice, we are advising that citizens do not travel to the region of Lombardy, and to the other provinces that have been placed in isolation”.

“For the moment, we are advising against non-essential travel to the regions of Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont, and Le Marche.”

It said tourist attractions, ski resorts, museums, bars and nightclubs would be closed in these areas until April 3rd.

“Restaurants and cafés will have limited opening hours and movements within and around isolated areas will be subject to police checks,” the department said. “The elderly, and those with pre-existing medical conditions, have been advised by the Italian government to remain indoors.”

Insurance

When an official advisory against travel is in place, those who have booked holidays to the area and have travel insurance could be able to claim for losses incurred.

People who have booked with tour operators should also be able to obtain refunds or reschedule their trips.

The impact that the Italian measures will have in the short-term was unclear on Sunday evening and the main airports in the affected regions appeared to be operating normally, with three flights scheduled to and from Dublin and Milan on Sunday.

Neither Ryanair or Aer Lingus responded to queries as to what impact the quarantining of northern Italy would have on their flights to the region. Nor did the airlines say how many people departing from northern Italy travelled to Dublin this weekend, which was when three Six Nations matches between Irish and Italian teams were due to take place before being cancelled as a result of the virus.

Many Italian fans still travelled to Dublin having made their bookings with more than 10 flights from northern Italy arriving on Friday and Saturday.