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HEALTH-VIRUS-ITALY
Italy limits travel and bans public gatherings across whole country
ROME, March 10, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Italy’s prime minister told people to
“stay at home” as the government limited travel and banned public gatherings
across the whole country to combat the threat posed by the new coronavirus.
From Tuesday, the unprecedented quarantine measures will be extended from
several large areas of the north to Italy’s entire population of more than 60
million, according to a new decree signed on Monday night.
Since the COVID-19 disease first emerged in China late last year, Italy has
become Europe’s hardest-hit country and has seen a rapid rise in cases to
more than 9,000 with 463 deaths reported so far.
The strict new rules, in place until April 3, also cancel sporting events
“of all levels and disciplines”, stopping play in the top-flight Serie A
football league.
Only competitions organised by international bodies will be allowed to go
ahead, but without spectators.
Before signing the decree, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a dramatic
evening television address that it could “be summarised as follows: I stay at
home”. “Travel must be avoided across the entire peninsula unless it is
justified by professional reasons, by cases of need or for health reasons,”
he told Italians.
The measures extend a quarantine zone that Italy had imposed for its
industrial northern heartland around the cities of Milan and Venice on
Sunday.
An AFP count showed Italy had recorded more than half of the 862 deaths
reported outside China as of Monday night.
– ‘Moment of responsibility’ –
The national restrictions mean that schools and universities will all
immediately close.
However, it was not immediately clear how all these measures would be
enforced.
Trains and numerous flights continued to operate into and out of Milan on
Monday despite the earlier set of restrictions for its Lombardy region. The
government’s first set of restrictions for Italy’s north sent the stock
market into a tailspin that saw the Milan exchange lose more than 11 percent
on the day.
But the expansion of the northern restrictions to the rest of the country
just a day later suggests a government struggling to cope with the scale of
the medical emergency on its hands.
Italian health officials had warned on Saturday that the northern Lombardy
region was starting to run out of hospital beds for its intensive care
patients.
The government also began to recall retired doctors as part of an effort to
quickly bolster the health service with 20,000 staff.
But the toll has kept growing by the day.
Italy recorded a record 133 deaths on Sunday and immediately announced that
it was ordering 22 million surgical masks — even though doctors question how
effective they are in halting the spread of viral infections.
The government’s latest set of measures mean that people will need to fill
out a standard “self-certification” form justifying their reasons for travel.
These would be submitted to the authorities at train stations and airports
as well as major roads running between cities.
The government decree says its forms will work on an honours system and no
proof of “need” will be required.
“Everyone must give up something to protect the health of citizens,” said
Conte.
“Today is our moment of responsibility. We cannot let our guard down.”
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0824 hrs