Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte criticized the leadership of a hospital in the north of the country for spreading the nCoV.

"By this time, we know that the way a hospital is managed is completely inappropriate. This certainly contributed to the spread of the virus," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on February 24. He did not state which hospital he was on.

Italy currently records 229 cases of nCoV infection, mainly in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, where the Covid-19 epidemic broke out and is showing the strongest signs of spread. The country recorded 7 deaths due to nCoV, all of whom were elderly or had underlying medical conditions.

The most concentrated place for nCoV infection is the town of Codogno in northern Italy, about 60 km from Milan. It is one of 11 towns in northern Italy that is blockaded to prevent the spread of nCoV.

Italy is the fourth largest outbreak in the world, after mainland China, South Korea and the Diamond Princess yacht is anchored in Japan.

The governments of Lombardy and Veneto have ordered schools to shut down for at least a week, close museums and cinemas, and cancel the last two days of the Venice festival.

Italian authorities are trying to find out why the disease broke out. The first new cases were announced on February 21, but health officials in the country have yet to find "Patient No. 0," the source of the infection.

The Covid-19 outbreak has been reported in 35 countries and territories after the outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Worldwide, more than 80,000 people are infected with nCoV, nearly 2,700 people die and more than 27,000 recover.