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Italy, home to more than 60 million people, is on lockdown. All shops are closed. Here's how the coronavirus crisis there has unfolded.
Italy, home to more than 60 million people, is on lockdown. All shops are closed. Here's how the coronavirus crisis there has unfolded.
Rhea Mahbubani,Rhea MahbubaniMar 13, 2020, 07:33 IST
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty ImagesTourists wearing protective respiratory masks in Rome on January 31, 2020.
Outside of Asia, Italy has been the most severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As of Thursday, over 12,000 people there have been infected and more than 800 are dead.
The country initially sealed off 11 towns, then expanding that red zone to include the northern region of Lombardy and 14 neighboring provinces. As the outbreak continued to grow, Prime Minster Giuseppe Conte locked down the entire nation on Tuesday.
The Italian government has launched an all-out battle against its coronavirus outbreak: The entire country, home to over 60 million people, is on lockdown.
As of Thursday, the coronavirus has infected more than 12,000 people and killed at least 825 others in Italy.
Although nearly 65% of all recorded coronavirus cases worldwide have been in China, Italy is the hardest-hit nation outside of Asia.
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As its case totals grew, Italy sealed off 11 towns, shutting down schools, museums, and public venues, and discouraging large gatherings. When the disease showed no signs of slowing down, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte quarantined the entire northern region of Lombardy and 14 neighboring provinces. Then on Tuesday he extended the coronavirus restriction zone to encompass all of Italy. All stores are closed, save for grocery markets and pharmacies.
Here's a full rundown of what's happened in Italy.
It took only four days for Italy to become the focal point of Europe's coronavirus crisis.
Italy reported three cases of the COVID-19 virus on February 21. Four days later, that number had shot up to 283 and seven people were dead.
Entire towns were locked down and public gatherings were canceled in a bid to control the spread of the virus.
The government put almost a dozen towns — those in which the most coronavirus cases were reported — on lockdown on February 23, affecting an estimated 50,000 people. The two most infected regions were Lombardy and Veneto in the north, where the popular cities of Milan and Venice are located.
Italy was teetering on the edge of a recession before the coronavirus outbreak, and the recent developments are expected to compound its economic woes.
The coronavirus outbreak is thrashing Italy's already-weak economy. The tourism and luxury industries have been severely hit as countries issue travel warnings to prevent people from traveling to Italy, which is typically a popular tourist destination.
Italy decided to lock down nearly a quarter of its population on March 8 as it raced to better control the coronavirus outbreak.
The quarantine, which was expected to last until April 3, came as Italy's coronavirus cases approached 6,000 and its death toll surpassed 230. Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of the country's Democratic party, was among the thousands who tested positive for COVID-19.
Schools, museums, theaters, and swimming pools across the country were shut down, and violating the restrictions would be considered a criminal offense, Conte said.
But plans of that shutdown leaked before it went into effect, triggering a mass exodus.
Roberto Burioni, a professor of virology at Milan's Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, told The Guardian that the leak triggered unnecessary travel as people rushed south.
"Unfortunately some of those who fled will be infected with the disease," he said.
By that point, the death toll had already exceeded 360.
Dozens of prison inmates rioted and escaped after news that jail visits would be limited or suspended as part of the containment measures.
The government's strict restrictions, paired with an awareness that inmates are closely packed and vulnerable to viruses, sparked unrest in 27 prisons across Italy on March 8 and 9.
Six inmates died of a methadone overdose after breaking into a Modena prison infirmary during the commotion. Others in Milan's San Vittore prison attacked guards and climbed onto the roof, where they held up a painted sheet reading "Indulto," which means "pardon."
Outside some prisons, inmates' relatives also clashed with police.
An additional surge of coronavirus cases forced Conte to announce the unprecedented measure of a nationwide lockdown.
Italy announced a sweeping national quarantine on March 9; it restricted the movement of people in, out, and even within the country in a bid to halt the coronavirus' relentless spread.
By that point, over 9,000 people had contracted the illness and over 460 were dead.
"All the measure of the red zones are now extended to all of the national territory," Conte said at a press conference. He announced a "stay at home" policy, a 6 p.m. curfew, and a ban on public gatherings.
Schools, museums, theaters, and swimming pools throughout Italy were closed, and weddings and funerals halted. Mortgage payments were suspended, entire towns were sealed off, and Italy's popular tourist destinations now sit eerily silent.
On its first day of that quarantine, Italy recorded its highest leap in fatalities in a single day: 168 new coronavirus deaths were reported there on Tuesday.
