Coronavirus: First case confirmed in mainland Spain as virus outbreak reported across Europe

Patient in Catalonia is country’s fourth case of Covid-19

Four more people have been confirmed dead in Italy, bringing the total in the country to 11 as the coronavirus continues to spread across Europe.

Switzerland and Croatia announced their first case and Austria declared its first two cases, who were Italians living close to the border province of Tyrol.

Mainland Spain also confirmed its first case of coronavirus.

Spanish health authorities identified a case of the illness in Catalonia, according to La Vanguardia.

Angelo Borrelli, the chief of Italy’s Civil Protection agency, said the number of virus cases in the country increased 45 per cent in the last 24 hours.

Italy has become the worst-hit country in Europe, with more than 320 cases. The virus has spread from northern Italy to other parts of the country, including to Sicily in the south.

The four latest deaths to be reported in Italy were all elderly people – three over the age of 80 from Lombardy, the worst impacted region, and a 76-year-old woman in Veneto.

The case in Catalonia is Spain’s fourth after three infected tourists from Germany, Italy and Britain were detected in the Canary Islands and in Mallorca.

A four-star hotel in the Canary Islands is currently on lockdown after a case of coronavirus.

Spanish health authorities said they would test hotel guests and staff after it confirmed an Italian doctor on holiday in Tenerife tested positive for the virus on Monday.

The man is now in isolation in hospital. He was the third case identified in Spain after a German tourist in La Gomera, another Canary Island, and a British man in Mallorca.

Maria Montero, a spokesperson for the Spanish government, said: ”For the time being, the guests will stay at the hotel until this second test and, depending on the results, appropriate health measures will be taken.”

The Italian patient’s wife has also been taken in isolation in hospital, she added.

Outbreaks in Iran and South Korea also escalated. Iran’s official death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday with 95 reported cases, but the actual number is thought to be higher.

“It is an uninvited and inauspicious visitor. God willing we will get through ... this virus,” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech. Iran’s deputy health minister and a member of parliament were among those infected.

In South Korea, which has the most coronavirus cases outside China with 977 infections and 10 deaths, authorities were testing all the estimated 215,000 members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outlined what schools and businesses would need to do if the coronavirus reaches pandemic levels – with officials saying it is just a matter of time before a full outbreak in the country.

“It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen,” Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters.

Public officials do not know if the spread of the virus will be mild or severe, she added, but Americans should prepare for it to disrupt their daily lives.

“We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad,” Dr Messonnier said.

The flu-like coronavirus, which began in Wuhan, in China, has so far killed more than 2,000 and been contracted by more than 80,000 more around the world.

Reuters contributed to this report