The two Chinese tourists who were the first people in Italy to test positive for covid-19 have donated $40,000 for research at Rome's Spallanzani hospital. The Chinese husband and wife, aged 66 and 67 respectively, were hospitalised after falling sick at a hotel in central Rome on 30 January.

They were treated at the Spallanzani, a specialist centre for infectious diseases, which discharged the couple in mid-March. Following their subsequent return to Wuhan the pair decided to show their gratitude to the Spallanzani by making the $40,000 donation to contribute to research into covid-19.