Fifth coronavirus death confirmed in Italy as fears of pandemic grow

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Tourists wearing protective facemasks visit the Piazza San Marco, in Venice
AFP via Getty Images
Tim Baker24 February 2020

A fifth person has died in Italy after contracting coronavirus as fears of a worldwide coronavirus pandemic grow amid a sharp rise in diagnoses and deaths in Europe .

Italy has now seen more than 200 new cases of Covid-19, with a fourth and fifth person confirmed dead on Monday.

Italian media reported that the person who died was 88 and came from the region of Lombardy. The four other people who have died of the illness were also elderly and at least three of them had been suffering serious underlying health problems.

The World Health Organisation planning a mission to the Lombardy region on Tuesday.

A number of top flight football games were called off over the weekend in the region, including Inter against Sampdoria that was supposed to be played in Milan.

A total of 13 cases of the coronavirus have now been found in the UK, with four people evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan diagnosed on Sunday.

Coronavirus - In pictures

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Professor of Health Protection at the University of East Anglia Paul Hunter has warned the world is getting closer to a coronavirus pandemic.

He said on Monday: “The tipping point after which our ability to prevent a global pandemic seems a lot closer after the past 24 hours.”

However the WHO announced on Monday that it no longer has a process for classifying an outbreak as a “pandemic”.

The EU's health security committee was meeting Monday to take stock of developments, notably in Italy.

"It is an incredible time. Less than two months ago, the coronavirus was completely unknown to us.

“The past few weeks has demonstrated just how quickly a new virus can spread around the world and cause widespread fear and disruption," WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said it is 'an incredible time' (Reuters)
REUTERS

He said the WHO was especially concerned about the cases in Italy, South Korea and Iran, where the death toll reportedly hit 50 in the city of Qom on Monday.

Janez Lenarčič, the European Emergency Response Coordinator, says the coronavirus outbreak will impact the European Union’s economy.

On Monday the FTSE 100 fell three per cent, knocking $50 billion (£38.75 billion) off the value of companies.

When countries take action, Mr Lenarčič said, the "measures should be first based on credible risk assessment and scientific evidence. Second, measures should be proportionate, and third, they should be taken in coordination with others. We should act as a union here, not individually."

Mr Lenarčič said that the rules governing Europe's Schengen passport free travel area allow for border closures in cases of public security concerns, but he said that only member nations can decide whether to reintroduce border controls.

Austria is considering restricting its border with Italy after a train crossing the Alps was stopped when people showed Covid-19 symptoms.

They were later given the all clear.

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