Italian Health Minister Urges G7 Colleagues To Exchange Information On New Coronavirus

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2020) Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza held a teleconference with his counterparts from the G7 on Monday, calling for international cooperation in the fight against the new strain of deadly coronavirus, the ministry's press service said.

"Minister Speranza has informed colleagues from the G7 about measures taken by Italy, such as the suspension of flights from China and health inspection at ports and airports," the statement read.

Last week, experts of Italy's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases were able to isolate the virus's DNA sequence.

Speranza assured that this discovery would become accessible to the entire international community. The infection's partial genetic code has already been added to the international GenBank database.

In the conversation with other health ministers, Speranza "emphasized the need to collaborate and exchange all the scientific information useful in the fight against the virus."

Italy's Council of Ministers declared on January 31 a state of emergency for the period of six months, following the detection of two cases of the new deadly coronavirus in the country.

The new strain of coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan late December and has since spread to more than 20 countries. The virus has so far killed 361 people in China and infected over 17,000 others. On Sunday, the first coronavirus-related death outside China was confirmed in the Philippines.