Coronavirus: 7000 people under lockdown on board cruise ship at Italian port due to suspected case

Dozens of Australians were among 7000 held on board a cruise ship at an Italian port due to a suspected case.

Seven-thousand people, including 27 Australians, were being held on board a cruise ship at an Italian port overnight due to a suspected case of coronavirus.

The Costa Smeralda, owned by Carnival, was blocked in the port of Civitavecchia after a 54-year-old Chinese national and her husband were isolated after the woman displayed symptoms which sparked concerns she had possibly contracted the deadly virus.

The passengers were ordered to remain onboard for at least an extra night while health officials completed the testing of the two Chinese passengers from Macau. Samples were taken to Rome’s Spallanzani institute, a centre specialising in infectious diseases and viruses that confirmed there was no infection, the health ministry said. The thousands of stranded tourists were free to disembark on Friday morning.

The woman fell sick with breathing difficulties and fever after boarding the ship in Savona on January 25. Both of the sick passengers were put in isolation in the ship’s hospital ward, awaiting the results of testing. Around 700 Chinese nationals were on the cruise liner with another 5500 passengers and 1000 crew but company officials say everyone else appears well.

The ship visited Marseilles, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca before docking at Civitavecchia, which is north of Rome.

A scene onboard the Costa Smeralda as passengers wait for coronavirus test results.

Passengers will have to wait for coronavirus test results before they can leave.

An anxious mayor of Civitavecchia raced to the docks to stop 1140 passengers from disembarking. Ernest Tedesco screamed at officials “Are you mad? Who gave you the order to disembark? I’ll take you all to court’’ as he prevented the passengers, who had completed their cruise holiday, from leaving the ship.

Italian media reported Mr Tedesco was driven to the docks by his assistant in a Fiat 500, whereupon he leaned out the window and stopped the disembarkation procedures.

China reported its biggest single-day jump in novel coronavirus deaths, as global fears deepened with more infections confirmed overseas including three Japanese evacuated from the outbreak’s epicentre.

The World Health Organisation, which initially downplayed a disease that has now killed 170 in China, has now declared it a global emergency.

China reported 38 new deaths in the preceding 24 hours, the highest one-day total since the virus was detected late last year. All but one of the new deaths were in Hubei.

The number of confirmed new cases also grew steadily to 7711, the National Health Commission said. Another 81,000 people were under observation for possible infection.

Israel barred all flights from China, while Russia announced it was closing its 2600-mile border with China, joining Mongolia and North Korea in barring crossings to guard against a new viral outbreak. It had been de facto closed because of the Lunar New Year holiday, but Russian authorities said the closure would be extended until March 1. Train traffic between the countries was halted except for one train connecting Moscow and Beijing, but air traffic between the two countries continued, at least for now. Russia has not confirmed any cases of the virus.

The pathogen is believed to have emerged in a market that sold wild game, and spread by a Lunar New Year holiday season in which hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically or abroad.

Meanwhile in Wuhan, a British evacuation charter flight has been given approval to depart on Friday morning. British officials will quarantine the passengers at a National health Service facility at Arrowe Park, west of Liverpool for a fortnight. The flight is due to land at an Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said: “We are pleased to have confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the evacuation flight from Wuhan airport to the UK can depart at 0500 local time on Friday 31 January. The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our Embassy in Beijing and consular teams remain in close contact with British nationals in the region to ensure they have the latest information they need.”