Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
All 60 million people in the country have been urged to remain indoors as mass gatherings, sports events, and cultural events have been canceled.
Business Insider spoke to two Italians - one from Rome and another from Lombardy region - to see what it's like on the ground. They said people were keeping their distance in public and "panicking" less, but that hospitals are overwhelmed.
Scroll down to see their first-hand accounts and photos of what it's like there.
Italy entered its first day of a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday after a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases and deaths made the country the worst affected outside China.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the wide range of new restrictions on Monday night as the number of cases surpassed 9,100, and 463 people died.
He said that he was enforcing the measures to protect the most vulnerable people in the country, like the elderly. Italy has one of the world's oldest populations.
Advertisement
All 60 million people living in the country have been told to remain indoors and limit social contact. Travel has also been severely restricted.
Pictures and first-hand accounts from Italians show what life is like under the new dramatic measures.
In an unprecedented move, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Monday that the entire country would be placed under lockdown due to coronavirus fears.
"I am going to sign a decree that can be summarised as follows: I stay at home," Conte told the country on Monday. "The whole of Italy will become a protected zone."
The movement of Italy's 60 million-strong population will be severely limited from Tuesday. People can now travel only for emergencies or urgent health situations, both within and out of the country.
Giorgia, a 19-year-old from Rome, told Business Insider said Italians are sticking to this rule rigorously. This photo from her shows a line forming outside a local pharmacy, with people keeping a considerable distance between each other.
Popular public spaces have also emptied out. This picture was taken near Villa Borghese in Rome on Tuesday, which is an area usually packed with tourists.
Rome's famous Spanish Steps — usually packed with tourists — is also eerily quiet.
The main train station in Reggio Emilia, northern Italy, is usually filled with people traveling to other parts of the country. But on Monday night, it was also looking deserted.
Meanwhile, Italians have been adjusting to their new way of life.
Marta, a 27-year-old from Lombardy region, told Business Insider people had been "panicking" during the early stages of the outbreak, but are now calmer since they know supermarkets will still be open and selling food.
"People were panicking at the beginning, but now that they know the supermarkets are still open and they can still get food, it's gotten a bit better," Marta, who is from Lombardy's Cremona province, told Business Insider.
"Now that we know what the situation is, we are just trying to get used to it, but it's still weird."
Lombardy is the worst-hit region in Italy and Europe.
Marta also worries about the country's "struggling" healthcare system. Her mother, a nurse at a local hospital, said there are limited beds in intensive care and that it's been difficult to balance the work between coronavirus and other patients.
Prisons around the country have also been hit hard by the country's coronavirus measures. Inmates across several jails rioted after the country banned or limited family visits, resulting in at least six deaths.
At least 50 inmates eventually escaped, while others set fires and took guards hostage.
Three inmates died inside a jail in Modena, the country's north, while three others died after being transferred away from the prison, Al Jazeera reported, citing Francesco Basentini, head of Italy's prison administration.
The Italian government said its coronavirus restrictions would last until April 3 — though if the country doesn't turn a corner with the disease by then, the date could well be pushed back.
