Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images
Residents wait to be given access to shop in a supermarket on February 23 in the small Italian town of Casalpusterlengo.
- Quarantine measures and concerns over the sudden surge of coronavirus have prompted shoppers in northern Italy to line up and empty shelves of supplies.
- Tons of photos and videos showing empty shelves in supermarkets in the country's north have been posted to Twitter.
- Italy, now the most infected country outside of Asia, had only three confirmed cases of the virus last Friday. But as of Wednesday, 12 people in the country have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, and 322 cases have been reported.
- The country had locked down at least a dozen towns with the hope of preventing the coronavirus' spread.
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Stunned by the biggest surge of the coronavirus in Europe, panicked shoppers in northern Italy are lining up outside of supermarkets and emptying shelves of supplies.
A great number of photos and videos showing empty shelves in various supermarkets in the country's north have been posted to Twitter.
The panic shopping was prompted by a sudden, soaring increase in coronavirus cases in the country. There were only three confirmed cases in Italy last Friday. But as of Wednesday, 12 people in the country had died from the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus and 322 cases had been reported, making Italy the most infected country outside of Asia.
The two most infected regions are Lombardy and Veneto in the north of Italy, home to the major cities of Milan and Venice.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ordered a lockdown of a dozen towns late on Saturday in the hopes of containing the virus' rapid spread.
France and Austria have started monitoring their borders for visitors from Italy who could be carrying the virus, according to the Associated Press.
Paolo Gentiloni, European commissioner for the economy and a former prime minister of Italy, told CNBC Sunday that "there is absolutely no reason for panic."
Here's what Italian stores look like amid coronavirus fears: