Austria confirms two COVID-19 cases

February 26, 2020 | 09:13

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Austria has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, a spokeswoman for the health authority in the province of Tyrol said on Tuesday (Feb 25).

Passengers wear protective masks at Milan's main railway station following security measures taken in northern Italy against the novel coronavirus. Milan is just north of the main centre of infection. (Photo: AFP/ANDREAS SOLARO)

The patients are two Italians who live in the province of Tyrol and were probably infected on a trip to Italy's Lombardy region, Tyrol governor Guenther Platter was quoted as saying by local media.

Tyrol and Carinthia are the two Austrian provinces that border northern Italy.

TV station ORF said the two 24-year-olds had reported themselves to the authorities. They had a slight fever and are currently under isolation in an Innsbruck hospital.

The hospital operator will hold a news conference at 2pm.

The new virus has already killed more than 2,600 people, most of them in China, and spread to about 29 other countries, according to a Reuters tally. The number of confirmed cases has risen above 80,000.

Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy with some 220 infections - from just three before Friday - and seven dead.

AFP

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