Authorities in Italy have battled to contain Europe’s first major outbreak of coronavirus and Iran reported eight deaths – the highest toll outside of China.
Some of the disease clusters identified in recent days have shown no link to China, a worrying sign of the virus spreading beyond control.

In Italy’s northern Lombardy region, which includes the nation’s financial capital Milan, the governor announced the number of confirmed cases stood at 150.
Italy now has the latest number of cases outside Asia with 252 cases and seven deaths with the most recent on Monday 24/02/2020.
Speaking at an emergency press conference, Italian Prime Minister said: “We have decided that in the areas identified as decease outbreaks, entry and exit are not allowed unless specific exceptions are permitted assessed on a case-by-case basis.”.

A resident of one the quarantined towns near Milan told Euronews:
“We’re trying to remain calm because in those situations it’s easy to panic.
“We go to buy food supplies because we don’t know if the supermarkets will stay open. “We hope everything will be fine.”

Cases of coronavirus in Italy, the most affected country in Europe, rose on Saturday to more than 150, with three deaths, prompting the Government to close off the worst-hit areas in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.