Lockdown hits Italy
As cases soar, Italy puts 16m in quarantine to fight spread of coronavirus – with checkpoints to stop anybody going into (or out of) Milan AND Venice
‘One step away from collapse’
ITALY descended into chaos yesterday after the government launched an unprecedented quarantine of 16million people to tackle the coronavirus epidemic.
Confusion and panic gripped the country after authorities placed a quarter of its population under the most draconian measures seen since the Second World War.
The controversial decision to lock down wealthy northern regions, including Milan and Venice, came as officials warned that hospitals are in a state of ‘near collapse’.
And Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak soared to 366 last night, making it the second worst-affected country outside China, where the virus emerged late last year. Cases in Italy surged from 5,883 on Saturday to 7,375 last night.
Pope Francis yesterday delivered his Sunday blessing at St Peter’s Square over the internet from inside the Vatican instead of from a window, in an attempt to prevent contagion.
Appearing on four large screens, he said: ‘It’s a bit strange this Angelus prayer today with the pope caged in the library, but I see you and I am close to you.’
The quarantine plan places huge swathes of Italy, including its financial hub Milan and tourist hotspot Venice, in a so-called ‘red zone’.
Police checkpoints at the borders of quarantined zones were being set up last night to prevent exit or entry for a month.
With confusion over the status of future flights from the area, panicked British tourists yesterday told how they cut their trips short over fears of being stranded. Chris Wood, 26, from London, told how he cut his holiday from Venice short, describing the lockdown announcement as ‘terrifying’.
Weddings and funerals have been cancelled, with cinemas, nightclubs, gyms, museums and ski resorts also told to close. Restaurants and bars will only open until 6pm, with guests ordered to remain at least one metre apart. Those flouting the rules could face three months in jail.
Although the most restrictive measures only affect northern Italy, the effects rippled across the country yesterday.
Major cities were left silent, while some of the country’s most famous tourist attractions, such as the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, were closed to the public.
The quarantine was finalised yesterday morning as Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the measures were necessary to ‘guarantee the health of our citizens’.
After the announcement, he said: ‘We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices... We are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed.’
The measures concentrate on the region of Lombardy, the epicentre of Italy’s outbreak, as well as 14 smaller provinces.
Lombardy’s governor, who is in quarantine himself, discouraged hoarding and insisted: ‘We’re not going to war.’
Flights were still operating from Milan’s Malpensa airport yesterday, including trips to London. But Italy’s flag carrier Alitalia will today stop all international flights from the city, limiting operations to a few domestic flights.
People will be allowed to leave the quarantined ‘ red zone’ in exceptional circumstances, including for work-related and medical reasons. News of the quarantine, which will last until April 3, prompted a desperate rush to vacate the restricted areas yesterday morning. The evacuation prompted warnings from leading politicians in southern Italy, where the virus has yet to spread as significantly.
The governor of Puglia, Michele Emiliano, signed an order calling for anybody arriving from Lombardy to place themselves in quarantine. He added: ‘Do not bring the... epidemic to your Puglia. You are carrying the virus into the lungs of your brothers and sisters, your grandparents, uncles, cousins and parents.’ World Health Organ
isation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Italy’s ‘genuine sacrifices’.
But the measures faced a backlash in the areas placed in lockdown, with the mayor of Asti in northern Italy calling the move a ‘disaster that we didn’t expect’.
Antonio Pesenti, head of the Lombardy regional crisis response unit, said: ‘We’re now being forced to set up intensive care treatment in corridors, in operating theatres, in recovery rooms. One of the best health systems in the world... is a step away from collapse.’
The Italian death rate increased by 57 per cent in just 24 hours, raising concerns about how the country’s elderly population – the second oldest after Japan’s – would cope with the mass outbreak.
Those aged over 75 have been advised to stay home, along with up to 8.5million students after the government closed schools and universities across the country.