By 16 million people on lock-down due to Coronavirus
Italy’s prime minister has said that due to the Coronavirus outbreak, at least 16 million people are now under lock-down in the Lombardy region and fourteen other provinces until early April.
Nobody is being allowed to leave these regions, except for in the case of an emergency.
This dramatic escalation in the country’s efforts to contain Coronavirus is in line with the rate at which it has spread. The death toll in Italy has now exceeded 230, with officials reporting more than 50 deaths in 24 hours. The number of confirmed cases jumped by more than 1,200 to 5,883 on Saturday alone.
Italy is Europe’s worst-hit country. With a total of 206, the UK is among the counties to report a sudden rise in the total number of confirmed cases. Others include France (949); Germany (795); Spain (441); the Netherlands (188).
Colombia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Malta, the Maldives and Paraguay have reported their first cases.
More than 80,000 people have been infected with coronavirus in China since its emergence in the city of Wuhan.
Schools and universities in Italy have been closed for some time now. New measures including closing all cinemas, night clubs, gyms, swimming pools, museums and ski resorts. Weddings, funerals and all religions and cultural gatherings are now also being suspended. Restaurants and cafes can open between 06:00 and 18:00 but customers are required to sit at least a metre apart.
People have been told to stay at home as much as possible. Those who break the terms of the government enforced quarantine could face three months in jail.
The country has said it is likely to start re-recruiting retired doctors in an effort to combat the escalating outbreak.
Until now only around 50,000 people in Italy had been affected by the conditions of the quarantine. These new measures have meant that around 16 million people are now on lock-down due to Coronavirus, and are expected to remain as such until at least the 3rd of April.
This comes after advice from The World Health Organization, which strongly suggested that Italy should focus on virus containment measures as infections spread across the country. The same recommendations are likely to be made in the event of other rapid increases in cases worldwide.
The number of cases worldwide has passed 100,000, officials say. There have so far been nearly 3,500 coronavirus deaths recorded worldwide.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, has called the spread of the virus “deeply concerning” and urged all countries, including the UK, to make containment “their highest priority”.
More on what the UK is doing to contain Coronavirus to follow during the week.
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