In Romania, the first case of coronavirus was confirmed on Wednesday, a man from Gorj county in the south of the country, on the border with Bulgaria.

He had been in contact with an Italian citizen who visited his family in the city of Craiova between 18 and 22 February, who was confirmed ill with the virus after he returned to Italy.

The Romanian authorities are trying to trace and put into quarantine everyone he met in Romania.

91 people are currently in quarantine, and 7,174 are in isolation at home. One million Romanians work in Italy, and there are direct flights from 14 Romanian cities.

Harder to monitor are the large numbers of migrant labourers, who travel between the two countries by minibus or private car.

In Hungary, there’s growing concern and some panic-buying of face masks and hand disinfectants, but no confirmed cases. 18 people are in quarantine after visiting northern Italy, including schoolchildren and a lorry driver.

Around 3,500 people have been screened so far at Budapest airport. Last week was half-term in many schools, and northern Italy is a popular region for Hungarian families to go skiing.

The authorities have earmarked two major Budapest hospitals for future cases.

In Bulgaria, the government sent a special plane to bring back 20 agriculture students from Italy. They are now under medical observation.

Bulgaria Air have cancelled flights to Milan until the end of March.

Thermal cameras which measure travellers’ temperatures are being installed at land border crossings as well as airports. Anyone with a temperature over 37 degrees is screened for the virus.