The death of four people yesterday raised to seven the number of fatalities due to coronavirus in Italy and confirmed the transalpine country as the third with the highest number of infections behind China and South Korea, 230 . While experts try to identify without success the beginning of the chain of contagion, a special mission of the World Health Organization arrives Tuesday in Rome to analyze the situation .

"Everything is under control. Italy is a safe country", they try to repeat the local authorities, in an attempt to reduce the tension that increases as the hours go by, especially in Lombardy and Veneto. The last official balance confirmed the death of four men aged between 62 and 84 who suffered from other diseases. All in Lombardy. Experts place one of the two sources of infection in the town of Codogno , 60 kilometers away from Milan, but the speed with which the virus seems to spread through other regions in the north of the country has created a sense of uncertainty among Milanese people. .

Milan woke up this semi-deserted Monday. Around the Victorio Emanuel Gallery and the Plaza del Duomo, the city's nerve center, tourists could barely see each other. The cathedral will remain closed all week, as well as schools, universities, cinemas, museums, gyms and theaters such as La Scala, which throughout its history has only 'lowered the blind' six times. The shops will remain open although the shopping centers and markets will close their doors on weekends to avoid crowds. From Monday, the capital of Lombardy, city of fashion and the 'aperitif' will close at six in the afternoon of bars, cinemas and discos.

The transports have not been suspended but many users avoid taking them these days, especially at rush hour. The images showed almost empty subway cars and travelers with masks. Many companies have allowed their employees to work from home during the next few days. This is the case of Unicredit, the first Italian bank. Designer Giorgio Armani, who presented his new collection at Milan Fashion Week behind closed doors on Sunday, has also closed its offices in the city center. All fairs and events scheduled in the region were suspended until further notice.

The Italians are divided between those who consider that the measures are excessive and those who try to acquire masks and disinfectant gels, increasingly difficult to find. Although there is no restriction on the opening of shops, the shelves of many supermarkets appeared empty Monday . Clients 'devastated' especially with pasta, water, disinfectant and non-perishable products, in anticipation that the situation may get worse.

The fear that the outbreak originating in Italy may cross borders has led some countries such as Slovenia, Croatia or Romania to take precautions before Italian citizens traveling abroad. The first to suffer the restrictions were the passengers of a train from Venice bound for Germany that remained blocked for several hours as they passed through the Austrian border, on suspicion of two possible cases of coronavirus on board that were finally negative. Something similar happened to almost a hundred Veneto and Lombard tourists traveling on a flight from Alitalia who were banned from entering the airport of Mauricios Island. In neighboring France, fear of contagion led a passenger to report the driver of a bus from Milan as she passed through Lyon to the French authorities. Others like Greece have suspended scholastic excursions.

Paris has refused to impose special controls at the borders to prevent the spread of the virus on the other side of the Alps , as suggested by the leader of the ultra-nationalist National Front, Marine Le Pen. A measure that also supports its Italian ally, Matteo Salvini, who proposed the temporary suspension of the Schengen Treaty, which allows free movement of people between EU countries. An option that the Italian government ruled out.

Meanwhile, Switzerland refuses to shield the borders , despite the fact that it is one of the most outcast since more than 67,000 people from northern Italy (nationals but also foreigners residing in the transalpine country) travel daily to work in the country Helvetic.

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