More than 6,000 tourists are stranded on a cruise ship in Italy after a suspected case of coronavirus was detected on board.
Costa Smeralda was put on lockdown in Italy on Thursday as a precautionary measure after a tourist was detected to have suspected symptoms of the deadly virus.
The Costa Crociere company which owns the luxury liner confirmed the lockdown, saying there were about 7,000 people on board including crew.
“There is one suspect case, a woman from Macau. Public health authorities are verifying the situation,” a spokesman from the cruise line told DPA news agency.
As of Thursday 30 January, 2020, there were 170 reported deaths from the coronavirus, with 7,736 confirmed cases in China and 75 abroad.
China has stepped up efforts to tackle the spread of the virus and new infections, including constructing new hospitals to accommodate detected cases.
Earlier this week, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, said that China deserved the international community’s gratitude and respect for having taken very serious measures to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak and prevent exporting cases overseas.
“The level of commitment (of the leadership) in China is incredible; I will praise China again and again, because its actions actually helped in reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus to other countries … we shall tell the truth and that’s the truth,” Adhanom said.
