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Danish foreign ministry advises against non-essential travel to northern Italy

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Danish foreign ministry advises against non-essential travel to northern Italy
Copenhagen Airport. Photo: Niels Christian Vilmann/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has updated its official travel advice for citizens in response to the active outbreak of coronavirus in a number of regions of northern Italy.

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The specific regions to which the ministry advises against all non-essential travel are Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto.

The decision is a precautionary measure based on the large increase in coronavirus cases in the four regions.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: What's the latest on coronavirus in Italy and how concerned should you be? (paywall free)

“If you have planned a trip to (Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont or Veneto), you should consider whether it is necessary to travel now,” the updated ministry advice states.

“If you are already staying in the aforementioned regions, you should be extra sure to follow Danish Health Authority advice to reduce the risk of being infected,” the advice continues.

The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen, DHA) advice as published on the authority’s website is as follows:

  • Good hand hygiene, primarily hand washing, optionally hand disinfection if the hands are clean and dry
  • Avoid contact with people with symptoms of cold and/or respiratory infection
  • Cough or sneeze in disposable handkerchief, alternatively (into) the elbow bend

That reflects World Health Organization guidelines:

You can also view a graphic of the Danish advice here or check the DHA website for more information in Danish or English.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus in Denmark: What's the latest news and how concerned should you be? (paywall free)

The foreign ministry advises “extra caution” in the rest of Italy but does not advise against non-essential travel to regions other than the four named above.

If you have travelled to one of the specified regions, you should be vigilant for coronavirus symptoms for 14 days after returning. The symptoms include a cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing.

If you think you have the virus, do not go to hospital or your doctor's surgery. Health authorities are worried about potentially infected people turning up at hospitals and passing on the virus. Therefore, you should always start by contacting your doctor by telephone.

You can read more about how to protect yourself and others, look out for symptoms and contact Danish healthcare in our paywall-free article, which will be updated on an ongoing basis.

More than 2,000 people have tested for the virus in Italy as of Monday March 2nd after the number of cases surged over the weekend and on Monday.

There have been 52 deaths connected to the coronavirus in Italy at the time of writing, after Italian health authorities reported another 18 fatalities in just 24 hours on Monday.

A total of 149 people are confirmed to have recovered, including 66 people given the all-clear on Monday.

Most cases are still concentrated in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna but almost all of Italy's regions now reported cases of the virus.

These numbers are changing constantly and you can view the latest figures here.

Denmark on Monday placed 122 people in quarantine at their homes in response to the country’s four confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.

Four people have so far tested positive for coronavirus in Denmark. Two of these had recently returned from trips to northern Italy. All four are not considered to be seriously ill.

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