The 53-year-old Chinese woman was hospitalised in Tuscany on Monday after passing out with flu-like symptoms and a light fever.
The tourist, originally from the province of Hubei - the epicentre of the fatal virus - fainted while at a service area at Serravalle Pistoiese, on the A11 motorway which connects Florence to Pisa.
Health authorities issued a statement saying that the woman was “transferred to the emergency room at Pistoia, where health professionals immediately activated the procedures foreseen by the ministerial protocol for these cases”.
The woman was travelling on a bus with a group of around 20 Chinese tourists, who resumed their journey to the Tuscan city of Lucca after the woman was rushed to a hospital in Pistoia.
Tests confirmed that it was a false alarm and the woman was not infected with the deadly virus.
There have been a number of suspected cases in Italy, including in Bari and Parma, but all tests for the coronavirus have so far come back negative.
As in other countries, the Italian Foreign Ministry is advising people to avoid “unnecessary trips” to Wuhan or Hubei province.
Direct flights to Italian airports from Wuhan have been suspended and since Monday morning, there have been closer checks on people arriving from 11 destinations with connecting flights (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Xian, Hangzhou, Hiakou, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hong Kong).
In recent days the Chinese community in Italy has called off celebrations for the Lunar New Year out of solidarity with China, which is battling to contain the virus that so far has claimed more than 100 lives and infected thousands of people in a dozen countries.
