The Coronavirus outbreak is continuing to worsen, with the virus spreading across more European countries.
11 elderly people have so far died from the virus in Italy, while cases of the virus have recently been confirmed in Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Croatia.
The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office has updated its travel advice, saying it advises ‘against all but essential travel’ to 10 small towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto. The towns usually attract tourists for their ski resorts but have been put into lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The UK government has also said that anyone travelling from those towns must self-isolate in order to try and prevent the further spread of the virus. Anyone who has returned to the UK from Iran, special care zones in South Korea or the Hubei province in China are asked to do the same and phone the NHS 111 service.
Meanwhile, some schools in England and Northern Ireland have shut for deep cleaning after students and staff returned from skiing trips.
The majority of cases of the COVID-19 outbreak are still in China, where over 70,000 cases have been reported so far. While the number of cases confirmed in China is high, the number of new diagnoses has generally been falling, and Chinese officials say that more than 18,500 people have recovered from the virus. It is thought that the elderly and those with underlying health conditions are most at risk.
Anyone concerned about the virus outbreak can find information on the government website or phone the NHS 111 service if they have travelled overseas in the past 14 days and are concerned about Coronavirus symptoms.
