<p>Some 6,000 people are being kept on board an Italian cruise ship as tests are carried out on a passenger from Macau to see if she has coronavirus, a spokesman for the Costa Crociere cruise company said on Thursday.</p>.<p>The 54-year-old woman arrived with her partner in Italy on Jan. 25 and boarded the ship, the Costa Smeralda, in the port of Savona that same day.</p>.<p>She subsequently came down with a fever and flu-like symptoms, and both herself and her partner have been placed in an isolation unit about the ship, Costa Crociere said in a statement.</p>.<p>The liner has visited Marseilles in France, and the Spanish ports of Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca this week before docking on Thursday at Civitavecchia, north of Rome.</p>.<p>No one was being allowed off the ship while medical checks were carried out to see if the pair had the potentially deadly coronavirus, the company spokesman said.</p>.<p>He said it might take "a few hours" before the situation became clearer.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the government was ready to take further steps if necessary, but did not elaborate.</p>.<p>"We're not concerned, but we are absolutely vigilant and cautious in facing this prospect," he told reporters during a trip to Bulgaria.</p>.<p>On Thursday countries began isolating hundreds of citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 170 people.</p>
<p>Some 6,000 people are being kept on board an Italian cruise ship as tests are carried out on a passenger from Macau to see if she has coronavirus, a spokesman for the Costa Crociere cruise company said on Thursday.</p>.<p>The 54-year-old woman arrived with her partner in Italy on Jan. 25 and boarded the ship, the Costa Smeralda, in the port of Savona that same day.</p>.<p>She subsequently came down with a fever and flu-like symptoms, and both herself and her partner have been placed in an isolation unit about the ship, Costa Crociere said in a statement.</p>.<p>The liner has visited Marseilles in France, and the Spanish ports of Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca this week before docking on Thursday at Civitavecchia, north of Rome.</p>.<p>No one was being allowed off the ship while medical checks were carried out to see if the pair had the potentially deadly coronavirus, the company spokesman said.</p>.<p>He said it might take "a few hours" before the situation became clearer.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the government was ready to take further steps if necessary, but did not elaborate.</p>.<p>"We're not concerned, but we are absolutely vigilant and cautious in facing this prospect," he told reporters during a trip to Bulgaria.</p>.<p>On Thursday countries began isolating hundreds of citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed 170 people.</p>