Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree early Sunday, which will put most of northern Italy under lockdown due to novel coronavirus.

The entire Lombardy region is included as well as 14 other provinces.

The reporter is verifying exactly when the lockdown will go into effect.

Draft text:

The text of the draft proposal – sent to us by the press office of the Lombardy regional authority – says that people in Lombardy and other 11 provinces should “absolutely avoid any movement into and out (of) … as well as within the same territories … except for travel motivated by unavoidable working needs or situations of emergency.”

The draft says the police, the fire brigade and armed forces could be used to enforce these measures. 

The measures also could include:

• Schools and universities being suspended until April 3.
• All sporting events in those regions being suspended, with the exception of professional events. No spectators would be allowed at professional events.
• People in places of prayer standing 1 meter away from each other. 
• Bars and restaurants enforcing social distancing.
• Medical staff not being allowed to take a leave of absence.

It’s unclear if these measures are included in the prime minister’s decree. It could impact more than 10 million people in Italy.

Italy reported a 50% increase in coronavirus cases Sunday, as the US further restricted travel and the famed La Scala opera house closed.

Italy’s Civil Protection Authority reported the country now has 1,694 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 1,128 confirmed cases on Saturday. Thirty-four people have died.

Italy has the most coronavirus cases of any country outside of Asia.

Delta Air Lines is suspending its US flights to Milan, the carrier announced Sunday. The last flight out will be depart New York on Monday. The last return flight will be on Tuesday.

Delta said it will resume flights to Milan on May 1. Rome flights are not affected.

Concerns affecting cultural institutions

In Milan, the La Scala opera house will be closed until March 8, according to a notice on its official website.

“In relation to the diffusion of the coronavirus, the prime minister has decreed the suspension of all events and initiatives and of all meeting in public places, including cultural ones, until Sunday 8 March,” says a notice on the opera house’s website.

“In compliance with these provisions, all performances and events open to the public at La Scala until 8 March are cancelled,” it said.

In Lombardy, the northern Italian region at the center of the country’s outbreak, 1 in 10 of confirmed coronavirus cases involve medical personnel, according to Paola Stringa, a press officer for the Lombardy regional government.

The welfare assessor in charge of regional health care in Lombardy, Giulio Gallera, told reporters on Saturday that the region is evaluating whether to dedicate an entire hospital to coronavirus patients.

“We have given the instruction to hospital to swab all the patients that come in with respiratory diseases symptoms. It’s important to preserve the well-being of medical personnel, which today represents the 10% of the infected,” Gallera said.

Italy has put several cities and towns in the country’s north on lockdown, banning people from entering or leaving affected areas, suspending public events and closing attractions, such as museums, to the public, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The measure effectively put an estimated 100,000 people under quarantine.

In Paris, The Louvre remained closed Sunday, the museum said in a statement to CNN.

The Louvre said its closing wasn’t ordered by the government, which Saturday canceled all public gatherings of 5,000 people or more in confined spaces. That included the Paris Half Marathon on Sunday.

France has recorded 100 cases and two deaths.

Reporting by Jay Croft, CNN

An outbreak of coronavirus in northern Italy worsened on Wednesday, with more than 30 new cases confirmed in the two worst-hit regions and children found to have the illness for the first time.

Officials in Lombardy, which includes Italy’s financial capital Milan, said cases had risen overnight to 259 from 240 on Tuesday, with four children, including a 4-year-old girl, infected in the first such cases in the country. Reuters reports.

In neighboring Veneto, the number of people confirmed to have caught the flu-like virus was 58, an increase of 13 on the previous tally given on Tuesday.

According Reuters, the death toll from the contagion, which came to light on Friday, remained unchanged at 11. All those who have died so far have been elderly and most had underlying health problems.

After first emerging in Italy in Lombardy and Veneto, the country’s economic powerhouse, the illness has now spread to seven other regions, including Sicily in the far south, with the total number of cases nationwide climbing above 350.

Italians or people who had recently visited the north of the country have tested positive in Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia and France since the weekend, showing how far and fast the illness – which was first identified in China last month – could spread.

In bid to halt the outbreak, authorities have shut schools, universities, museums, cinemas and theaters across much of the north. Many countries have advised their nationals not to visit the north of Italy and hoteliers have reported a wave of cancellations, putting the local tourism industry at threat.

“We should stay calm, there is no reason to be particularly afraid,” said Elisabetta Jacona, a Milan resident and doctor.

“The only advice I can give, as a doctor, is telling people who are more at risk, elderly people or people with previous pathologies … to avoid going out.”

Analysts have warned that the outbreak could shunt Italy’s fragile economy into its fourth recession in 12 years.

Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Riccardo Bastianello;
Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alex Richardson @ Reuters

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