Around 80 Italian citizens will arrive in Italy aboard a flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan - epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak - foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday.
The Italians airlifted home from Wuhan will land at Pratica di Mare military airport near Rome and "will receive appropriate health treatment in a suitable location" Di Maio told Italy's envoy to China, Luca Ferrari.
"No Italian in Wuhan has yet been infected by the coronavirus," Di Maio stated.
Italy has had two confirmed cases of the coronavirus - a Chinese tourist couple, who visited Milan, Parma and Rome. They have been admitted to Rome's Spallanzani Hospital, which specialises in infectious diseases.
The Italian government on Friday announced a six-month state of emergency, the first for a virus-spread health risk in Italy, and allocated five million euros for the crisis.
Premier Giuseppe Conte announced on Thursday that all commercial flights to and from China were being suspended.
At least 213 in China have died from the coronavirus since mid-December and the number of confirmed cases has risen to at least 9,700.
There have been over 70 coronavirus cases reported in other countries, the vast majority of which are people who travelled to China, according to the UN World Health Organisation.
A number of countries are organising flights to rescue nationals and their families stranded in Wuhan.
