A new course aims to help people understand the emergence of COVID-19 and how we respond to it going forward.

It came as the government tightened travel restrictions on coronavirus-stricken Italy following the announcement that Italian authorities were to extend quarantine measures to the whole country.

The government’s action plan for the disease has three separate stages – contain, delay and mitigate – alongside a research programme.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously said that any further measures that could be introduced to tackle the spread of Covid-19 would be guided by scientific advice.

He said: “We continue to work to contain the virus, but we’re also taking action to delay its impact, to fund research and to mitigate its consequences.

“Throughout our approach is guided by the science. That is the bedrock on which we base all our decisions."

Health officials do not know all there is to know about it, but the new course, offered by FutureLearn, aims to explain the latest on it.

It's a free, three-week course, presented by international experts.

The syllabus will cover what is known about the outbreak, are the practical implications for responding to it and what we need to find out more about it.

The course was developed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who is a world leader in research and postgraduate education in public and global health.

Its mission is to improve health and health equity worldwide.

Professor Baron Peter Piot says: "This course is terribly important because we are confronted with an unprecedented outbreak, a new virus, lots of uncertainties, an uncertain future.

"And it's going to be very important that as many people as possible understand what is going on, what are the possibilities, and what we can do about it.

"We must make sure that every country is ready to diagnose as soon as possible when someone is infected and then take all the measures.

"It means also sharing information, transparency, and doing some research, research that will inform the response.

"Because this has to be a science-based response, as every response. And we don't have all the information.

"The less uncertainty we have, the better we are equipped to deal with this epidemic."

Visit futurelearn.com/courses/covid19-novel-coronavirus