File photo: Xinhua

 
The Paris Opera on Wednesday urged would-be visitors with flu-like symptoms to stay away to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus which has sickened 257 people, and killed four, in France.

"As a precautionary measure, the Paris Opera... asks any theater-goer or visitor with flu-like symptoms [coughs, respiratory problems, fever, aches] to postpone their visit to the Paris Opera or at the very least wear a surgical mask, especially if they are coming from one of the high-risk zones," the iconic opera said on its website.

"Depending on their situation, ticket-holders will be offered the opportunity to exchange their existing tickets or have the price of them refunded," it added.

The Opera said "public health measures" have been put in place at its two theaters - Opera Bastille and the Palais Garnier - to limit the spread of the epidemic, and issued advice on regular hand-washing and covering one's mouth when coughing.

The Opera was hard hit earlier this year by a national strike against pension reform that saw dancers, who enjoy special, early-retirement benefits, withhold labor at a cost of millions of dollars of lost tickets.

The Opera Bastille has 2,745 seats and the Palais Garnier 2,054. Together, the two receive about 480,000 visitors every year.

France last week banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people in a bid to contain the coronavirus that has killed more than 3,200 people globally since cases were first reported in China in December.