Italy suspends all flights with China as Coronavirus confirmed in Italy.

The Italian government has declared a state of emergency, for six months, following the confirmation that two Chinese tourists in Rome tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Italy has suspended all flights to and from China over fears of spreading the deadly Coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Stressing that there was "no need for alarm or panic", Italian premier Giuseppe Conte said that Italy was the first EU country to introduce the drastic measures.

However aviation experts were quick to point out that the travel ban will have no effect on passengers arriving from China on non-direct flights, from destinations such as Dubai or Istanbul.

Italy's first confirmed cases of Coronavirus

The two confirmed cases, two Chinese tourists, are a husband and wife aged 67 and 66, from Wuhon. They landed in Milan on 23 January and spent the last 10 days touring Italy, including a stop in Parma.

The pair have been isolated in Rome's Spallanzani hospital, a specialist centre for treating infectious diseases, and their hotel room in the central Rome district of Monti, near the Roman Forum, has been sealed off by police.

Italian health authorities are now attempting to retrace the movements of the two tourists.

Tour group intercepted on motorway

When news broke of the then suspected Coronavirus cases, police and health authorities tracked down a tour group, with which the two Chinese tourists had been travelling, on a motorway near Cassino, south of the capital. The bus full of Chinese tourists was escorted directly to Spallanzani hospital for tests.

Cruise ship near Rome

On 30 January almost 7,000 people were confined on a cruise ship at the port of Civitavecchia, north of Rome, after two suspected cases of Coronavirus were detected on board. However the tests on the two tourists from Hong Kong proved negative and passengers were allowed to disembark on the morning of 31 January.

Xenophobia

There have been increasing incidents of xenophobia in Italy in recent days, including calls on social media to avoid Chinese shops and restaurants over Coronavirus fears. Reported racist incidents include Chinese tourists being insulted in restaurants and on public transport while visiting Florence, Venice and Turin, as well as two Chinese tourists reportedly being refused entry to Pompeii’s archaeological park.

In Rome the director of the prestigious S. Cecilia music school has created controversy by banning all east Asian students from attending classes and exams until they take a medical test to prove they are not infected with the Coronavirus.

Global emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an international emergency over the Coronavirus, as the death toll surpasses 200, with the UK announcing its first cases of the deadly virus on 31 January.