French returning from virus-hit north Italy urged to stay home

French citizens returning from two Italian regions hit by a coronavirus outbreak have been instructed to avoid "all non-essential outings" and keep their children home from school. The Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto were added Sunday, along with South Korea, to a list of places that are covered by a series of official health recommendations, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. On its website, the government urges those returning from the listed places to "avoid all non-essential outings", giving as examples "big gatherings, restaurants, the cinema", for two weeks after their return and to keep their children home from daycare or school. Employees and students are encouraged to work from home "in so far as possible" and to avoid meetings, elevators and cafeterias. All returning travellers are asked to regularly monitor themselves for symptoms of the virus that has killed nearly 2,600 people worldwide. The updated recommendations come amid growing global jitters over the spread of the virus, with the head of the World Health Organization warning Monday of a "potential pandemic". On Monday, a bus that arrived in the French city of Lyon from Milan was confined for several hours over fears of a case of infection on board. The LyonMag news site reported that a driver, who is Italian, was taken to hospital for tests because he had a bad cough. The passengers were kept on board for tests before being allowed to leave. The bus, destined for the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, had stopped in the Italian city of Turin and Grenoble in France on the way to Lyon. Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region, which is at the centre of Europe's biggest outbreak of the coronavirus. Five people have died from the disease in Italy, where several villages are under lockdown. In a further sign of the anxiety triggered by the spread of the disease, a Paris police station was closed to the public for several hours Monday after a Chinese woman became unwell on the premises. The station in the 13th arrondissement, home to the French capital's Asian quarter, reopened after the woman tested negative for the COVID-19 virus, a police source told AFP. In France, one person, an elderly Chinese tourist, has died from the virus so far. Eleven have been hospitalised, of whom 10 have recovered. A bus arriving in the French city of Lyon�from Milan in northern Italy was sealed off for several hours Monday after the driver began coughing People wearing face masks were evacuated from the bus in Lyon.