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Both of Austria’s coronavirus patients are running mild fevers and have been isolated in a clinic in Innsbruck. Photo: Reuters

Italy death toll jumps to 11 as coronavirus spreads through Europe and beyond

  • Total of 323 infections – the highest number in Europe – reported in Italy, while Switzerland, mainland Spain and Algeria report first cases
  • European health ministers meet in Italy and pledge to keep borders open, even as infections rise

New coronavirus cases were confirmed on Tuesday throughout Europe, in the continent's hotspot of Italy, but also in Austria, Croatia, Spain and Switzerland, even as European health ministers were meeting in Rome.

The death toll in Italy has risen to 11 and infections to 323, the largest number of people infected in Europe. All of those who have died so far in Italy were either elderly or had pre-existing medical conditions.

Algeria, meanwhile confirmed its first case, an Italian man who arrived in the North African country on February 17, state television reported, while a 25-year-old man living in Germany tested positive for the coronavirus after a trip to Milan, the state’s Health Ministry said.

But European health ministers pledged to keep frontiers open on Tuesday. They said closing borders would be a “disproportionate and ineffective” measure, even as numbers of infections continue to rise.

“We’re talking about a virus that doesn’t respect borders,” said Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza.

His German counterpart, Jens Spahn, who was also at the Rome meeting, said they were “taking the situation very, very seriously”.

“The coronavirus has reached Europe for the first time in a situation where we don’t understand every chain of infection and they can’t be connected directly to China. This means we have a new situation to deal with. I have said it could get worse before it gets better, and this assessment still stands,” he added.

Austria confirmed its first two cases: a 24-year-old woman and her boyfriend, both from Lombardy. They have been isolated in a clinic in Innsbruck, but no longer run fevers, local health authorities said.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also confirmed the country's first coronavirus case, state broadcaster HRT reported. He was described as a young man who visited Milan last week.

Andrej Plenkovic, Croatia's prime minister. Photo: Bloomberg

Another first case was reported in Switzerland. The national health authority said a person tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Tuesday also saw the first case in mainland Spain as the Health Ministry announced someone in Barcelona had tested positive for the virus. The patient had recently returned from northern Italy and will undergo further testing, the ministry tweeted.

Earlier that day, in Tenerife, one of the Spanish Canary Islands, a hotel with 1,000 guests was placed under quarantine, Spanish television reported, after a guest from Lombardy tested positive for the virus.

Police are guarding the hotel in Adeje, in the southwest, until everyone staying there has been tested, according to newspaper El Mundo.

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In Rome, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was confident that draconian containment measures enforced around the two virus clusters in Lombardy and Veneto would prove effective.

“We trust that we can quickly achieve a result of containment of the contagion from the coronavirus,” Conte told reporters, speaking of “a health emergency that must anyway be tackled rationally”.

While borders remain open, several governments have announced additional measures for incoming travellers, in particular from the two northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.

They range from medical screening to special gates at airports and recommendations to self-isolate.

A guest looks from the balcony of a hotel under quarantine for coronavirus in the town of Adeje, Tenerife, Spain. Photo: EPA

Conte insisted however that Italy’s health protocols were “among the most rigorous”.

Late on Sunday, Austria briefly blocked incoming rail traffic from Italy after two suspected cases were detected on a Venice-Munich train. They tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

More talks were scheduled in Rome for Wednesday, involving the European Commission, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Speranza was due to meet EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, WHO Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge and ECDC Director Andrea Ammon, his office said.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters

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