Watch: Auckland taxi drivers refusing to pick up Chinese tourists for fear of coronavirus

Watch: Auckland taxi drivers refusing to pick up Chinese tourists for fear of coronavirus Credit: Video - Newshub ; Image - Il Messaggero

The man, named as Zhang, wanted to get change for a 50 euro note when the cashier barred him from entering the store.

Italian news site Il Messaggero reported on Wednesday the student was assaulted at a gas station in Basano del Grappa Vicenza, Veneto.

A Chinese man in Italy was attacked with a glass bottle over coronavirus fears.

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"You can't come in because you have coronavirus," the cashier is reported to have said.

A man sitting next to him then hit Zhang in the head with a glass bottle, cutting him.

Racism and xenophobia are rising in Italy as the coronavirus spreads.

"Unfortunately, one of the inevitable impacts of this illness is xenophobia," Marco Wong, a local councillor in the Tuscan town of Prato told The Guardian

"Parents aren't sending their children to school if there are Chinese classmates and people are writing on the internet not to go to Chinese shops and restaurants."

The virus has killed 12 people in Italy and infected more than 400.