Passengers leave Rome for Wuhan amid outbreak

Concerned about a global outbreak of the coronavirus, numerous nations have adopted screening measures for travellers from China, especially those arriving from Wuhan, the central city where the virus appears to have originated. At the airport in Rome, Italy, the ministry of health has displayed a warning about the virus.

The sign lists the symptoms and methods for avoiding contamination. Countries in Asia and elsewhere have begun body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching people carrying a new coronavirus. In addition to 258 cases in Wuhan, more than 20 have been diagnosed in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong province in the south and Zhejiang in the east. Four cases have been confirmed overseas among Chinese travellers in South Korea, Japan and Thailand.

A Taiwanese businesswoman who just returned from Wuhan tested positive for the virus, Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control reported Tuesday. The recent confirmation that the disease can spread between humans has heightened fears as millions of Chinese travel during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.