Britons told to get out of Italy after 200 more deaths in a day

TENS of thousands of Britons have been told to escape lockeddown Italy ‘as soon as possible’ as the country recorded a record 200 deaths in 24 hours.

In a dramatic escalation of its official advice, the Foreign Office yesterday urged tourists stranded in the virus-hit nation to travel home. The startling guidance was issued after Austria and Slovenia closed their borders with Italy and Switzerland restricted Italy-bound travel to commuters only.

Italy has become the worst-affected country outside China. Yesterday it allocated a fighting fund worth almost £22billion to tackle the virus.

After placing the entire country in lockdown, authorities last night announced even tougher restrictions, declaring that all stores except pharmacies and food outlets will be closed.

In Britain, the Foreign Office website now says: ‘Airline schedules are subject to change and some flights are being cancelled. We therefore advise all remaining British tourists in Italy to contact their airline operators to arrange return to the UK as soon as possible.’

Up to 40,000 British holidaymakers, workers and students are fighting for seats on a handful of ‘repatriation’ flights which are being operated by EasyJet and Ryanair this week.

But the Daily Mail has discovered that Ryanair passengers are being charged skyhigh prices for remaining tickets – up to 18 times more than had been promised.

Yesterday, the country’s death toll rose by a record amount, with 196 fatalities in just 24 hours. The 31 per cent increase means that 827 people have now died due to the outbreak there, while the total number of cases rose from 10,149 to 12,462.

Ryanair had promised cheap fares of £17.50 (€19.99) for passengers desperate to escape before it cancels all its Italy flights on Saturday. But yesterday it was charging £313 (€357) – 18 times as much – for one of the last seats on a flight from Rome to Manchester.

The Mail also discovered a £222 (€253) fare – almost 13 times as much – for one of the last two seats on a flight from the Italian capital to London Stansted.

All the Ryanair fares in the Mail’s audit were ‘plus fares’, which include a 20kg hold bag. A Ryanair spokesman said: ‘We are not running rescue flights.

‘We are actually operating flights up until Friday midnight to allow enough time for repatriation. All affected passengers stranded in Italy can request a free move on flights operating until this date.’

Italian airline Aitalia is also operating flights from Rome to Heathrow. But last night the airline was charging £650 for a flight today. Tickets for EasyJet flights were more modestly priced.

Amid warnings that Italy’s health system is ‘near collapse’, it emerged that more than 1,000 people are in intensive care due to the virus. The government has already placed the country’s 60million citizens under ‘stay at home’ rules that severely restrict everyday life. People can only leave home if they need to do so for work, to buy groceries, for health reasons, and to provide care to youngsters and the old.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said he was willing to impose ‘more restrictive measures’ under pressure from some of the worst-hit regions in Italy. But he cautioned: ‘We must be aware that there are civil liberties that are being violated, we must always proceed carefully.’

As UK airlines cancelled flights, Albania, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain suspended air traffic with Italy.