British tourists last night attacked the Government’s ‘pitiful’ response to Italy’s coronavirus crisis.
Furious passengers set to travel to Italian cities hit by the outbreak said they had been left in the lurch with no official safety advice.
As other countries ramped up advice not to travel to the Italy crisis zone, Downing Street insisted Britain is ‘well prepared’ for an outbreak.
Italy has dramatically stepped up its fight to contain the virus after a huge spike in cases, with 229 diagnoses confirmed and seven dead.
The country has effectively placed 50,000 citizens in lockdown by shutting off more than a dozen towns and cancelling public events.
Britons returning from the worst-affected northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto are expected to be told to self-quarantine at home.
Mask: Soldier on patrol outside Milan’s Duomo yesterday after a spike in coronavirus cases
Taking no chances: Passengers wear masks and overalls on the Milan metro following the coronavirus outbreak
The chief medical officer will tomorrow add these virus hotbeds to a list of places where a visit warrants isolation once back on UK soil, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Currently, Britons returning from these affected areas were told to ‘continue as normal’ after calling 111 for advice.
Italy’s outbreak sparked panic across Europe, with buses and trains carrying Italian passengers across borders halted after those on board reported symptoms.
It comes as experts have branded the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus a pandemic ‘in all but name’.
In Europe, Austria threatened to close its borders if suspected carriers tried to enter from Italy, while Ireland and Serbia advised citizens not to travel to the affected areas in the north of the country.
The EU insisted it has no plans to close the Schengen travel zone to stop the spread but announced a £195million rescue plan.
The Italian government has launched a series of draconian measures to stop the spread, while desperately trying to trace ‘patient zero’ – the unknown carrier at the centre of the spike of cases.
More than two dozen flights are expected to leave the UK for northern Italy today.
British passengers yesterday told how they had cancelled trips over fears they could be trapped in Italy if the situation worsens.
An ambulance in a deserted Codogno, one the northern Italian towns placed under lockdown
Tourists wear protective facemasks as they visit Venice, where the Venice Carnival festivities have been axed for fear of compounding the country’s coronavirus woes
Carabinieri block the road in Zovon near Venice to limit the spread of coronavirus. Six deaths and 229 infections in Italy has fanned panic in neighbouring countries and sparked a clamour for governments to clamp down on border checks
TERRIFIED I’LL BE STUCK IN VENICE
Philippa Rose, 26, from Leicester, is due to fly to Venice next Saturday with her partner for their anniversary.
‘As two young and fit individuals we aren’t so worried about catching the virus itself, but more about delays in getting home and the possibility of being quarantined over there,’ she said.
‘Our main worry is getting stuck.
‘It’s despicable that in the wake of this outbreak, there has been radio silence from the officials we rely on for advice.
‘Everything online is for those travelling to China/Asia and nothing for Italy.’
In the first signs of strain, a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Milan was delayed by 20 minutes yesterday morning when a passenger asked to get off the flight over coronavirus fears.
A 67-year-old passenger who gave her name as Lea criticised the Government’s response as she cancelled a trip from Stansted to Venice yesterday.
She said: ‘The Government advice is not relevant to the situation. It’s pitiful and no help whatsoever to anybody.’
Diego Gullo, who flew from Milan to Gatwick on Thursday, told how he had placed himself and his family in quarantine after returning from Codogno, the town at the centre of Italy’s outbreak.
Speaking from his home in north London, he told Sky News: ‘I haven’t had any specific advice, there is no check in the UK.
We did call 111 and we were not told anything in particular… they suggested to just continue as usual.’
Airlines including Easyjet and Ryanair last night said flights would go ahead pending any official advice and that travellers were not entitled to refunds.
Italy has shut down at least 35 roads surrounding a cluster of towns in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, where the virus began to spread.
Those who attempted to leave were threatened with three-month prison sentences. There have also been confirmed cases in the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna regions.
Professor John Ashton, a former regional director of public health in north-west England, criticised Boris Johnson for not spelling out how Britain would respond to any eventual outbreak.
He said: ‘At the moment a lot of information is based on rumour.’ The virus has a 0.7 per cent mortality rate, WHO said yesterday.
Women wear protective face masks to visit the Gallery Vittorio Emanuele II, close to the Piazza del Duomo in central Milan