A hospital in Rome announced on Sunday that it has isolated the DNA sequence of the coronavirus. Visiting the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said the discovery will be immediately made available to the entire international community in the interests of taking further measures against the outbreak.

"Having isolated the virus means that we'll have many more opportunities to study it, to understand it and to better test what can be proved effective to contain its spread," Speranza told reporters. "All of our knowledge and the images of the isolated virus will be promptly shared with the international community".