Coronavirus infects Italy
Coronavirus infects ItalyiStock

The Health Ministry today announced it is issuing a travel warning for Italy due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the region. The Foreign Ministry has adopted the recommendation.

A statement released this evening reads that "due to the spread of the coronavirus in several provinces in northern Italy and following the Italian government's decision on preventive behavior, anyone planning a trip to northern Italy should consider its necessity at present and keep up to date with the Italian (both governmental and provincial) government directives."

The Foreign Ministry noted that the seven provinces in Italy that were declared problematic at various levels of risk in Italy were: Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-South Tyrol, and Liguria.

In the afternoon, the number of sick in Italy rose to six, four of them in the morning.

The Sultanate of Oman in the Persian Gulf reported that the virus had also reached its territory when two Omani civilians returning from a visit to Iran were found infected with the virus.

Earlier in the day, an Iranian lawmaker said that in his city, Qom, 50 people had died in the past two weeks, four times the number reported by authorities.

According to MP Ahmed Farahani, more than 250 residents in the city were placed under quarantine.