A British Airways flight from Heathrow to Milan was delayed on Monday morning when a passenger changed their mind about flying for fear of catching coronavirus.
NBC reporter Molly Hunter, who was on the flight, tweeted at 7.45am: "At Heathrow, our BA Milan flight is delayed – the captain just announced there are passengers (I count 3) on board who don’t want to travel due to coronavirus.
"Already pushed back…now re-attaching."
The flight took off 20 minutes later than scheduled.
BA said: "As with all our customers, we will always respect their wishes if they change their mind about flying at the last minute. The flight left within a few minutes of its scheduled departure time."
Italy has confirmed more than 160 cases of the virus and seven people have died.
The first death was confirmed in Padua, west of Venice, the second, third and fourth happened in the Milan region in northern Italy. Three more deaths were confirmed on Monday, afternoon also in northern Italy. All were elderly people and at least four had been suffering from other health problems.
The outbreak has caused concern that the epidemic could now spiral across Europe, with many British people returning to the UK after the half-term break.
Austria turned away a Venice-Frankfurt train on Sunday evening when it was reported two passengers had flu-like symptoms. The train was later given the all clear.
