Six additional cases of contamination with the coronavirus appeared in China were discovered in Italy, announced Friday February 21 the authorities of Lombardy. These are the first known cases of human-to-human transmission on the peninsula.
In an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the authorities asked the residents of Codogno and Castiglione d'Adda to stay at home and to avoid assembly. "We have put in place a mandatory quarantine for all those who have come into contact with patients who have tested positive," Council President Giuseppe Conte told reporters. Anyone who has been in a "risk zone" in the past two weeks must stay at home, he added.
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The patient behind the new cases fell ill after meeting a friend who recently traveled to China, said Giulio Gallera, a member of the Lombardy regional executive. This 38-year-old man is now in intensive care. His wife, who is pregnant, and a friend are among the new cases. Three other patients with symptoms similar to those of pneumonia were hospitalized overnight. The Lombard authorities are trying to find all the people who have been in contact with them and around 100 are being tested.
Before the cases announced on Friday, only three people had been identified in Italy as carrying the coronavirus. They were two Chinese tourists who arrived from Wuhan, home of the epidemic, and an Italian who returned from this Chinese city on a plane specially chartered by Italy to repatriate 56 of his nationals.
