Coronavirus: Europe on alert as four more deaths reported in Italy – updates

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all but essential travel to the towns in northern Italy that local authorities have effectively quarantined. A spokesman has said:

We advise against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto, which are currently in isolation due to an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus. Any British nationals already in these towns should follow the advice of the local authorities.

Officials are advising British nationals returning to the UK from the area to follow advice from the Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England. The new travel advice reads:

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in Lombardy (Codogno, Castiglione d’Adda, Casalpusterlengo, Fombio, Maleo, Somaglia, Bertonico, Terranova dei Passerini, Castelgerundo and San Fiorano) and one in Veneto (Vo’ Euganeo) which have been isolated by the Italian authorities due to an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus.

The government of Italy has introduced extraordinary measures that allow regions to implement civil protection measures in response to Coronavirus. This includes the isolation of 10 small towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto. The regions of Lombardy, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piemonte and Emilia Romagna have implemented measures including the suspension of public or private events, the suspension of schools and higher education and the suspension on the opening of museums and cultural institutions for seven days. If you are already in the regions affected you should follow the instructions of local authorities.

Algeria has confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, Reuters has reported, citing state television. The country’s health minister has reportedly said an Italian man who arrived in Algeria on 17 February has been put into quarantine.

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Kuwait’s civil aviation authority has suspended all flights with Singapore and Japan over coronavirus fears, the nation’s state news agency KUNA reports.

A statement was issued in accordance with the Kuwaiti health ministry’s instructions on Tuesday. The day before, Kuwait suspended flights with South Korea, Iran, Thailand, Italy and Iraq over similar concerns. It has registered nine cases of coronavirus – all coming from Iran.