Coronavirus kills two in Italy 

Two coronavirus patients in Italy have today died from the Covid-19 disease that has now killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,000. 

The first to die, a 78-year-old man, passed away in a hospital in north eastern Italy on Friday evening.

Adriano Trevisan, a retired bricklayer, had been admitted to the hospital for another health issue ten days ago said local authorities.

Experts suspected that doctors had not given the patient appropriate virus tests. The picture shows a medic records a patient’s condition at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan on February 16

Six Italians tested positive for the coronavirus in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, a local official said yesterday in the first known cases of local transmission in Italy of the potentially deadly illness.

‘We have got six cases of coronavirus,’ Lombardy councillor Giulio Gallera told a news conference, adding that hundreds of people who had been in contact with the patients were now being tested to see if they had been infected.

The first person confirmed to have contracted the virus was believed to have fallen ill after meeting a friend who had recently returned from China. 

Residents of the northern towns of Codogno and Castiglione d’Adda were being urged to stay at home as medical tests continued.

The only other fatality in Europe was a Chinese tourist who died last week in France. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the number of coronavirus cases with no clear epidemiological link, although the total number of cases outside China remains relatively small, its director general said on Saturday.

Cases with no clear link include those with no travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter.

Globally, the coronavirus epidemic has killed at least 2,249 people, infected more than 76,700 and spread to at least two dozen countries. A medical worker is pictured treating a patient at an isolation ward at a hospital in south-western China’s Chongqing on February 1

Originating in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the new virus has infected more than 75,400 people inside China and 76,700 globally. In the picture above, a security staff member checks a passenger’s temperature at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on January 26

According to reports, the disease remained mild in 80% of coronavirus patients, and was severe or critical in 20% of patients, he said. In 2% of reported cases, the virus was fatal.

‘Our biggest concern continues to be the potential for COVID-19 to spread in countries with weaker health systems,’ he said. ‘We have also published a strategic preparedness and response plan, with a call for $675 million to support countries, especially those which are most vulnerable.’

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 2,249 people and infected more than 76,700 globally