UPDATE: New coronavirus cases confirmed in Tuscany and Sicily
The first cases of the coronavirus have been detected in southern Italy and Tuscany after one person in Florence and another in Palermo tested positive, local authorities confirmed.
An Italian woman on holiday in Palermo has become the first person to test positive for the coronavirus in southern Italy, regional president Nello Musumeci has confirmed.
The woman, from Bergamo in the region of Lombardy, is now in isolation in Palermo's Cervello hospital. The people she was travelling with have also been placed under quarantine, local media reports.
The group had arrived in Sicily before the outbreak in the Lombardy region began last week, Musumeci told reporters, and the woman tested positive in hospital on Monday night.
In central Florence, a 60-year-old Italian businessman who had reportedly travelled to Singapore recently has been placed in isolation at the city's Ponte a Niccheri hospital after testing positive for the virus.
The man is the first person in Tuscany to test positive for the virus.
By Wednesday three cases had been confirmed in Sicily and two in Tuscany. There were also two cases confirmed in Liguria, known as the Italian Riviera.
MAP: Which parts of Italy are affected by coronavirus outbreak?
The majority of cases have been detected in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus had risen to around 270 on Tuesday morning, according to Italian media reports.
Those infected included 101 who were being treated in hospital, 27 others who were in intensive care and 94 who were in self isolation.
According to the World Health Organisation more than 80 percent of patients infected with the virus have mild disease and recover, while 14 percent have severe diseases such as pneumonia.
Around five percent of all cases are considered critical and only two percent result in death.
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An Italian woman on holiday in Palermo has become the first person to test positive for the coronavirus in southern Italy, regional president Nello Musumeci has confirmed.
The woman, from Bergamo in the region of Lombardy, is now in isolation in Palermo's Cervello hospital. The people she was travelling with have also been placed under quarantine, local media reports.
The group had arrived in Sicily before the outbreak in the Lombardy region began last week, Musumeci told reporters, and the woman tested positive in hospital on Monday night.
In central Florence, a 60-year-old Italian businessman who had reportedly travelled to Singapore recently has been placed in isolation at the city's Ponte a Niccheri hospital after testing positive for the virus.
The man is the first person in Tuscany to test positive for the virus.
By Wednesday three cases had been confirmed in Sicily and two in Tuscany. There were also two cases confirmed in Liguria, known as the Italian Riviera.
MAP: Which parts of Italy are affected by coronavirus outbreak?
The majority of cases have been detected in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus had risen to around 270 on Tuesday morning, according to Italian media reports.
Those infected included 101 who were being treated in hospital, 27 others who were in intensive care and 94 who were in self isolation.
According to the World Health Organisation more than 80 percent of patients infected with the virus have mild disease and recover, while 14 percent have severe diseases such as pneumonia.
Around five percent of all cases are considered critical and only two percent result in death.
READ ALSO:
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