CIVITAVECCHIA, Italy — Thousands of passengers stuck on a towering cruise ship. Doctors racing to the scene. Confusion and fear spreading.

For more than 12 hours on Thursday, the travelers aboard a ship docked north of Rome were ensnared in what was an ultimately false alarm after a Chinese national came down with a fever.

The episode prompted by a single sick passenger illustrates the fear that is spreading around the world along with the outbreak of the coronavirus, which has sickened nearly 9,800 people globally, the vast majority of them in mainland China. All 213 deaths have been reported in China.

For much of the day, Italy was gripped by fears that the coronavirus had arrived in the country. At least 68 cases have been reported outside mainland China, but there had not yet been any confirmed cases in Italy — though that changed later Thursday, when the government announced the first two cases, which were unrelated to the ship.