The Italian government announced on Saturday the isolation of a dozen cities, mainly in Lombardy (north), after the discovery of nearly 80 cases of new coronavirus and two deaths between Friday and Saturday.
Schools and closed businesses ...
"In areas considered to be homes, neither entry nor exit will be allowed unless there is a special exemption," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told reporters. The head of government also announced the closure of businesses and schools in these areas as well as the cancellation of all public events (carnivals, sports competitions, school trips, etc.).
The main focus is around Codogno, 60 km from Milan. In this city and nine neighboring localities, all public places (bars, town halls, libraries, schools) except pharmacies were closed on Friday evening.
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... in an area of more than 50,000 inhabitants
Most of the cases in Lombardy started from a 38-year-old executive from the multinational Unilever, hospitalized since Wednesday in Codogno, in intensive care, and who was able to be transferred Saturday to Pavia to a more suitable establishment. His 8-month pregnant wife is contaminated, as well as a friend, bar patrons and the doctors who treated him at the start. The government adopted in the Council of Ministers a decree-law which de facto isolates this area which has more than 50,000 inhabitants. Giuseppe Conte said that checkpoints would be put in place and if necessary, he would send the army and all the necessary police.
79 contaminations
The other focus is in the village of Vo 'Euganeo, in Veneto (north-east). This is where the first Italian - and European - national came from to die when this 78-year-old man had tested positive for the new coronavirus. A total of 79 people were infected with the virus in Italy, two of whom died - a 77-year-old woman died near Codogno overnight, said civil protection chief Antonio Borelli.
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These figures include three people infected outside Italy, including two Chinese tourists, and a young man considered to be cured. The majority of new infections occurred in Lombardy (54 cases) around Codogno, and in Veneto (17 cases). Antonio Borelli also cited two cases in Emilia-Romagna, a neighbor of Lombardy and one in Piedmont, which would derive from the Codogno home.