16 million Italians put in quarantine
CHAOS engulfed Italy last night after a quarter of the country was ordered into quarantine and the coronavirus death toll rocketed by 133 in just one day.
Officials said 366 people have died from Covid-19, soaring from 233 on Saturday, and the number of cases leapt from 5,883 to 7,375.
New emergency measures mean around 16 million people in Lombardy and 14 other provinces, including Milan and Venice, need permission to travel. Anyone caught breaking the laws can be jailed for up to three months.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte also ordered the closure of schools, ski resorts, cinemas, gyms, museums, nightclubs, football stadiums and other venues across the country in a bid to stop the virus spreading further. Weddings and funerals are also banned.
The chaos saw what was described as an “exodus” of Italians living under lockdown to other parts of the country.
Emergency measures will mainly affect the north of Italy.
Mr Conte said: “We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big.
“There will be no movement in or out of these areas or within them unless for proven workrelated reasons, emergencies or health reasons.
“We are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed.”
Solidarity
Restaurants and cafes in the quarantined zones can open only between 6am and 6pm, with customers forced to sit at least three feet apart.
The lockdown decree includes powers to fine anyone caught entering or leaving Lombardy, the worst-affected region, until April 3.
Antonio Pesenti, chief of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit, said: “We are now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors, in operating theatres, in recovery rooms.
“We have emptied entire hospital wards to make space for people in critical condition.
“One of the best health systems in the world, in Lombardy, is a step away from collapse.”
Czech Republic premier Andrej Babis called on his Italian counterpart to ban his citizens from travelling through Europe.
He said: “I think it is important that Prime Minister Conte calls on all Italians not to leave Italy at all.” He added: “It’s clear that Italy, unfortunately, doesn’t have it under control.”
But World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Mr Conte’s efforts to halt Covid-19.
He said: “The government and the people of Italy are taking bold, courageous steps aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus and protecting their country and world.
“They are making genuine sacrifices. WHO stands in solidarity with Italy and is here to continue supporting you.” Actor and Venice resident Vincenzo Tosetti, 34, said many people fled after word got out that Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces were being locked down late on Saturday.
He said: “My cousins, my friends, they packed bags and left last night.
“This is going to test the Italians’ ability to behave responsibly and I have to say that up until now they’ve been failing. There’s been an exodus”.
British tourist Chris Wood, who was visiting Venice with his girlfriend, told how their Airbnb host messaged them to say the city was in lockdown. He said: “I was in a bit of a panic as I thought we were going to be stuck in Venice for a month.
“We woke up and decided to get out as soon as we could and left immediately.
Blessing
“The initial announcement that Venice was in lockdown was quite terrifying but everything at the airport is pretty calm.”
In Rome, the usually-packed Colosseum saw few visitors and the Vatican faithful hoping to see Pope Francis deliver his Sunday blessing and remarks would have been disappointed yesterday.The pontiff, who usually appears at a window overlooking St Peter’s Square, instead recited prayers in a video address from the Vatican’s apostolic library.
Francis’ video blessing was a move aimed to discourage crowds amid the outbreak.
The coronavirus death toll in Spain now stands at 17, with 597 cases confirmed.
Fernando Simon, the doctor coordinating the country’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, said the number of cases were “increasing at 20 per cent per day”.
But he dismissed fears the virus was spreading across Spain.
Dr Simon said 60 per cent of cases were within three regions – the greater Madrid area, the Basque country and La Rioja.
Meanwhile two more people infected with coronavirus in the Netherlands have died, the country’s health officials confirmed.
The country registered its first fatal case on Friday and the latest deaths take the Netherlands’ total number of fatalities to three.
Infection cases in the country increased to 265 yesterday, from 188 on Saturday.
In South Korea officials said yesterday that 367 new cases had been reported.
The figures bring the country’s total number of infected to 7,134.