Italy’s streets empty in historic lockdown to halt spread of coronavirus

Streets across Italy were deserted as the government ordered all citizens to stay at home to curb the worst outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, implementing controls unprecedented in a western nation since the second World War.

The death toll from the virus jumped to 631 out of 10,149 confirmed cases on Tuesday, though authorities warned this data was incomplete as the region at the centre of the outbreak, Lombardy, had not given its full numbers.

"Together we can do it," health minister Roberto Speranza appealed in a Facebook post promoting the so-called stay-at-home law. "We are aware we are asking for sacrifices, these are however indispensable. Now more than ever, everyone's contribution is decisive."

On Monday night, prime minister Giuseppe Conte placed the entire country under quarantine without warning, rolling out controls previously in place only for the worst-hit areas.

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Nearly three in four deaths have been in Lombardy, a hub of industry and Italy’s richest region, and the government is desperate to prevent the outbreak descending on the country’s poorer south, where less developed health services could struggle to cope.

Citizens must fill out a form to justify any venture out of the house. They can do so for proven work reasons, necessities like food shopping, health reasons or to return to their place of residence.

Police controls

There are police checks on roads and at train stations, and people violating the law can be fined and imprisoned for three months. Anyone who has tested positive for the virus, or has been ordered to quarantine due to possible exposure, is completely banned from leaving home.

All sport in the country is suspended until April 3rd, including Serie A football, in a situation described by Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI as having “no precedent in history”.

As stock markets dived and the widening shutdown of economic activity threatened to trigger a crash, the European Commission announced it would use all tools available to boost economies.

"The crisis we face because of coronavirus has both a very significant human dimension and a potentially major economic impact," said commission president Ursula von der Leyen after a teleconference with EU leaders, as she announced state aid and borrowing rules would be eased and hinted at intervention from the European Central Bank in a bid to calm markets.

“It is therefore essential that we act very decisively and collectively first of all to contain the spread of the virus and help patients, and to counter the economic fallout,” she said.

Austrian ban

Austria banned entry to people from Italy on Tuesday, introducing checks on its border, an exceptional move for two countries that are part of the check-free Schengen zone.

"The utmost priority is to prevent the spread and thus the importing of the illness into our society," chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a news conference. "There is therefore a ban on entry for people from Italy into Austria, with the exception of people who have a doctor's note."

New figures released by Italian public health body the ISS showed that one in four cases identified in Italy as of March 9th were hospitalised, with 19 per cent "critical".

While a fifth of diagnoses were among people aged 19-50, more than half of deaths were of people aged over 80, a third were people in their 70s, one in 10 were of people in their 60s.

"These data confirm how all age groups contribute to the spread of infection, and unfortunately the worst effects affect frail elderly people," said ISS chief Silvio Brusaferro as she urged younger people to take the virus seriously.

“Giving up a party or an aperitif with friends . . . is a duty to protect your own health and that of others, especially the most fragile.”

CORONAVIRUS ACROSS THE WORLD

Spain

The country shut down schools in several regions, suspended flights from Italy and advised against all non-essential travel on Tuesday in the hope of stemming a rising tide of coronavirus cases.

The number of confirmed cases increased threefold from Sunday and tenfold in a week, prompting Spain, which had so far taken few drastic steps, to change tack and announce a slew of measures.

The government banned indoor gatherings of more than 1,000 people in the most affected regions – Madrid, the Rioja wine-growing region and two areas in the northern Basque Country, while all La Liga football matches will be played behind closed doors for at least two weeks.

US
President Donald Trump said the coronavirus outbreak would "go away" and urged Americans to remain calm as cases jumped and the White House came under mounting pressure to boost its response to the health and economic crisis.

A steady rise in the number of US cases of Covid-19 has spurred calls within Congress for action to expand testing and avert an economic meltdown. About three-quarters of US states now have confirmed Covid-19 with more than 800 Americans infected.

Washington state’s governor warned of tens of thousands more cases without “real action” and New York’s governor deployed National Guard troops as a containment measure in a hard-hit New York City suburb.

“It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away,” Mr Trump said after a meeting on Capitol Hill with Republican lawmakers. “We want to protect our shipping industry, our cruise industry, cruise ships. We want to protect our airlines industry.”

Mr Trump, who in the past two days has broached a payroll tax cut and relief for companies hard hit by coronavirus fears, offered no specific details on what had been discussed in a meeting with his top economic officials.

UK
The total number of Covid-19 cases in the UK jumped to 373 on Tuesday morning. A sixth patient in the UK died – the man was in his early 80s and had underlying health conditions, the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said. Junior health minister Nadine Dorries became the first MP to be diagnosed with the virus.

Greece and North Macedonia
Both countries on Tuesday announced all schools, universities and kindergartens would be shut for the next 14 days.