A fifth person has died from coronavirus in Italy, where cases have soared over 200 – as Austria assembles a special taskforce to consider border controls.
A dozen towns in Italy are in lockdown as authorities race to contain the biggest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe.
More than 200 people in Italy have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus – and there have been at least five deaths over the past 48 hours.
The latest victim was 88 years old and was from the northern Lombardy region, Italian media reported, making him the fourth victim in the area.
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On Sunday evening, Austria refused entry to a train coming from Italy after the Italian State Railways informed Austrian train operator OBB that there were two people with fever symptoms on board.
“Tonight a train on its way from Venice to Munich was stopped at the Austrian border,” Austria’s interior ministry earlier confirmed.
The operator later confirmed to Sky News that all train traffic to and from Italy had been suspended – but the suspension was lifted after a few hours.
Concern has also been expressed by the French director of health Jerome Salomon, who said the situation was “worrying” and warned of further cases in France because of its proximity to Italy.
He told the France Info radio station that “anyone returning from Lombardy or Veneto with symptoms must be considered suspicious”, but said there were not yet any plans for border controls.
However, officials did intercept a coach from Milan to Lyon over concerns one Italian on board might have the virus, having displayed flu-like symptoms.
Police put up a security cordon around the bus and moved the passengers into an area of Lyon Perrache bus station, where they were isolated from other travellers, and the person showing symptoms was taken to hospital.
Germany has said it is not considering border closures.
