Rome tourist worries as Italy confirms virus case

Italian Prime Minister's office sent out a note Friday stating that Italy declared a six-month state of emergency to implement the procedure to prevent the spread of a new deadly virus.

Tourists appeared nervous outside Grand Hotel Palatino, where a room was sealed off after two Chinese guests tested positive to the new strain of the coronavirus.

"Yes I am worried because I have been staying here for now five days so I am worried, but what can I do", said Colombian tourist Mariana Bernal.

Two Chinese tourists visiting Rome tested positive for the virus, Premier Giuseppe Conte said late Thursday, adding that Italy had barred flights coming from and going to China.

The two Chinese nationals are hospitalised in isolation in the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, the National Institute for Infective Diseases.

Italy is scheduled to send an aircraft to pick up Italians from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak.