Italy: Cruise ship quarantined amid coronavirus fears
Around 6,000 passengers, including 27 Turkish nationals, stopped from leaving ship after woman showed symptoms of virus
Around 6,000 passengers of a cruise ship are quarantined after a Chinese woman showed symptoms of novel coronavirus, local media reported on Wednesday.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, the ship owned by Italian Costa Crociere company docked at Italy’s western city of Civitavecchia after one passenger fell ill with a high fever.
She and her partner, from Hong Kong, “were tested by experts from Rome’s Spallanzani Hospital, which specializes in infectious diseases and viruses,” the agency reported.
The woman, who is also suffering from respiratory problems, is being held in isolation in a medical room aboard the ship.
According to the agency, although her partner did not show any symptoms, he was isolated as a precaution.
All the passengers, including 751 Chinese, have been ordered not to leave the ship, it added.
A total of 27 Turkish nationals are also among the passengers stuck on the cruise ship, the Turkish Embassy in Rome told Anadolu Agency.
'Situation under control'
The couple arrived in Italy’s Milan’s Malpensa Airport on Jan. 25 and boarded the ship earlier this week.
Costa Crociere said the "situation on the vessel was under control", according to ANSA.
“Our trip has had a nightmare ending," the news agency quoted a passenger as saying.
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which originated in Wuhan city, the central Hubei province in China, caused at least 170 deaths while more than 7,700 others were infected with the virus which is said to have transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats.
The virus has raised alarm globally with cases reported across Asia, Europe, the U.S., and Canada.
Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at airports worldwide. Several airlines have suspended flights to Wuhan.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergency committee will reconvene on Thursday, the third time in a week, to evaluate the risks ahead for an international emergency.
