Lockdown in Italy as death toll soars
ITALY has increased its lockdown with all non-essential businesses and factories to close, amid warnings the country has not reached the peak of its coronavirus outbreak, despite the death toll rocketing by 793 in a day.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced stricter measures yesterday as he desperately tries to slow the epidemic.
“This is the most difficult challenge after the war,” he said. “We will close all noncrucial production activities. But supermarkets, food, pharmacies and parapharmacies will remain open.”
Mr Conte said those who died were not just numbers, but people with families who were mourning them.
“We are living a nightmare,” he said.
Europe remains in the grip of the deadly virus, but without any signs that the infection rates were slowing like they did in China.
The overall death toll in Italy is on track to hit 5000 from more than 53,000, rapidly closing in on China’s overall cases which have stalled in recent days as that country starts to emerge from lockdown.
Spain, the United States, Germany, Iran and France were next on the coronavirus rankings, with all having more than 20,000 cases.
It comes as Britain’s death toll climbed by 53 on the first day that pubs, cafes, and restaurants were closed, with medical staff pleading for people to follow social distancing rules.
Anaesthetic registrar Natalie Silvey posted a dramatic picture after a shift in a British hospital.
“This is the face of someone who just spent nine hours in personal protective equipment moving critically ill COVID-19 patients around London,” she said on Twitter.
“I feel broken – and we are only at the start. I am begging people, please please do social distancing and self isolation #covid19.”
Ms Silvey was one of thousands of medical staff putting their lives at risk by dealing with infectious patients.
“I volunteered to do this. The consultant anaesthetist I was with volunteered. This is bringing out the best of us.
Now can the rest of the country please bring out their best and listen,” she said.
Heathrow Airport was eerily quiet as Australians headed home on Qantas flights, with anxious patients asking to be placed near empty seats.
However, staff warned them that flights were full, as many passengers heading to Hong Kong wore face masks as they checked in for their journey home.
British firms, including a vacuum cleaner company and Formula 1 team McLaren,
were working over the weekend to discover ways to manufacture ventilators, with reports that at least 30,000 will be needed.
And it is feared that the virus was also about to hit eastern Europe and the Middle East, with Turkey recording more than 600 cases, and Iraq more than 200 cases.
There are more than 3.5 million refugees in Turkey in makeshift refugee camps, with concerns it would wreak havoc if it was spread there.
Iran has more than 7000 recovered patients from its 20,000 infections, as the world races to find a treatment for coronavirus.
Angelo Borelli, the head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency said the worst may still be to come there, despite almost 800 deaths recorded early on Sunday Australian time.
He said that it had not reached the peak.
“We can’t say it, we have to look at the trends,” he said.
“We never made a prediction, not because they can’t be done but because they suffer from some assumptions and risk being misleading.”