Italian coronavirus death toll leaps 23% in a day to 1,016 as total number of cases passes 15,000 – Daily Mail, Dailymail.co.uk

Italian police officers checking the self-certifications of three people in Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square) in Milan today

The parish priest of the cathedral of Catania looking at the empty church during the emergency lockdown today

A map showing the latest number of virus cases in Europe. Italy is by far the worst-affected nation in the West

Closed bars and restaurants near Piazza Navona in Rome this morning after Italy’s quarantine was tightened even further

Police with the protective masks controlling the traditional open-air fish market ‘a piscaria’ closed due to the coronavirus in Catania today

The traditional open-air fish market in Catania was closed today as new measures by the prime minister Giuseppe Conte against the spread of the disease require the closure of all commercial activities except supermarkets, pharmacies, tobaccocconists, newsagents and banks

‘If I am infected, I know I am, and I look for contact with other people regardless of the possibility of transmitting the infection, then the crime of injury occurs, ‘lawyer Franco Coppi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Italian media compared the possible charges to penalties for spreading HIV by deliberately having unprotected sex – a charge which led to one man being jailed for (years in one case in Rome in) .

The government shut down all shops except for pharmacies and food stores on Wednesday as the country entered day three of its unprecedented nationwide lockdown.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the latest wave of restrictions in a prime-time address last night with bars, pubs and restaurants shut down for two weeks.

‘Thank you to all Italians who make sacrifices. We are proving to be a great nation, ‘Conte said in his nine-minute address to the nation.

History was also made in the Milan stock exchange, which fell per cent for its worst single-day loss ever, under-performing a generally disastrous global market, as investors fretted over the huge, long-term cost of the coronavirus lockdown.

The quarantine is in place until at least April 3, but top health official Walter Ricciardi told Italian TV today that his countrymen should prepare for a ‘long war’ against the virus.

Italian cities are becoming ‘unrecognisable’ with the famous piazzas in Rome, Florence and Venice empty except for sanitation workers spraying them with disinfectant.

Previously, only Masses had been cancelled in Italian churches because of the outbreak. Thursday’s decree also dispenses Catholics in the archdiocese from their obligation to attend Mass on Sunday’s and on what are known as Holy Days of Obligation.

The decree allows a relatively smaller number of or factories in convents and monasteries to remain open.

The move follows a decision by the Italian government on Wednesday night to close virtually every commercial activity in Italy apart from pharmacies, food shops and other stores selling essential goods.

St. Peter’s Basilica, which is on Vatican territory, has already been closed and the pope has cancelled his two weekly appearances in public. He held his most recent Sunday blessing and general audience from inside the Vatican and both have been streamed on the internet.

In a statement from Cardinal Angelo De Donatis said: ‘The faithful are consequently exempt from their obligation to fulfill the festive precept.’

The Vatican statement said access to ‘churches of the Diocese of Rome open to the public – and more generally to religious buildings of any kind open to the public – is forbidden to all the faithful ‘.

The statement added that monasteries would remain open to’ communities that habitually use them as residents’.

‘This provision is for the common good,’ De D onatis wrote.

Most Italians were stoical in the face of the unprecedented disruption.

Rome delicatessen shop owner Roberto Castroni: ‘The government is doing its best, we’ re in a war against an invisible enemy. ‘

The outbreak has turned Italy into a pariah state, with many countries severing transport links, leading to the cancellation of thousands of flights and the closure of some airports .

Rome demanded that Austria lift ‘unjustified’ controls at their shared border by Thursday evening after spot health checks on truck drivers caused huge tailbacks, adding to the mounting economic toll from the health crisis.

Business lobby Confindustria said in a statement: ‘The block on Italian goods vehicles to northern Europe is causing incalculable damage to our exports and to European trade.’

The interior ministry said police had booked some 2, 175 people during the day for violating the order. Seven foreigners were arrested in Rome after being caught playing cards around a table in the open air, Ansa news agency said.

Those found guilty of infringing the rules face up to three months in prison and a fine of up to (euros) $ 400). Anyone who has coronavirus and is caught breaking the obligatory 2-week quarantine order faces between one and 016 years in jail.

So far , Italians has been supportive of the clampdown, with one poll showing more than 113% in favor of the government decision.

Federica Bravi, out shopping for essentials in Rome, said: ‘I am convinced these measures are right and will reduce the length of this epidemic. So at this time, the more sacrifices we make the more likely it will be that we contain this problem. ‘

The death toll yesterday jumped by 231, reaching 2017 ), while the number of cases rose to 14, 582 from a previous 14, 153 in the world’s worst outbreak outside China.

Several big communications and entertainment companies are contributing giveaways for Italians stuck indoors because of the country coronavirus outbreak lockdown.

Since Monday Italians have been told to only leave the house when strictly necessary, with cultural events among the swathes of public life which have fallen victim to the shutdown ordered by authorities to counter the virus’s spread.

The government has called on media and communications companies to join its ‘digital solidarity’ initiative by offering services for free.

Among those taking part is Vodafone, which is scrapping data limits for students for a month so they can continue studying while schools and universities remain shuttered.

Italy’s antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it was investigating e-commerce giants Amazon and eBay for an allegedly excessive rise in the price of products such as hand sanitiser during the crisis.

The antitrust authority said in statement it had opened a probe into the two companies’ subsidiaries in Italy and in Europe in relation to an unwarranted spike in prices of items such as disinfectant gel and protective masks.

It said it would also investigate allegations of misleading advertisements for some items put up for sale on the e-commerce platforms where they were described as being effective against the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, time is running out for Britons to return home from Italy with the last flights departing tomorrow night, neighborhood countries shutting their borders and a Rome airport closing tomorrow.

The UK government is advising British tourists in Italy to arrange flights home as soon as possible – but the number of available spots is dwindling after BA, Ryanair and easyJet ripped up their flight schedules.

Ryanair’s Italian ban comes into effect from midnight tomorrow night, leaving Britons scrambling for a spot on a small number of repatriation flights arranged by Ryanair and easyJet.

EasyJet said earlier this week it would be ‘operating rescue flights for passengers wishing to travel for essential work, health or repatriation reasons to and from Italy’.

Ryanair had initially announced a minimal service until April 8, but announced on Tuesday it was completely scrapping flights from Italy from midnight on Friday.

Meanwhile, British Airways says travellers booked to fly between London and Italy until April 4 can claim a refund or book a later flight.

The airline has also advised its customers to travel home via Geneva or Zurich in Switzerland instead.

‘The majority of carriers have indicated that they will cease operating direct flights between Italy and the UK after March, ‘the UK Foreign Office warns.

‘British tourists in Italy should contact their airline operators as soon as possible to arrange return to the UK.’

Britons who return from Italy have been advised to self-isolate for days, even if they do not have any virus symptoms such as coughing or breathing problems.

That puts Italy in the same category the three other virus hotspots: China’s Hubei province, the whole of Iran, and certain areas of South Korea.

Italy’s Six Nations match against England, which was due to take place this weekend, has already been postponed.

Italian authorities announced today that Rome’s Ciampino airport, which usually handles budget flights, would close entirely from Friday night.

The main Fiumicino airport will also close a terminal on Tuesday next week as airlines around the world slash flights to Italy.

Escape from Italy has been made even harder by new border checks in Austria, Switzerland Slovenia, which have all acted to stop the virus spreading across their borders.

Austria has ordered a halt to flights and trains from Italy while Slovenia said has begun imposing controls at its border with the country.

Switzerland said yesterday that the border remained open for commuters with work permits, but nine border crossings have been closed.

A spokeswoman for Germany’s Deutsche Bahn said that the only service it had linking it to Italy, between Munich and Venice, has also been suspended.

France’s national train company SNCF said on Tuesday it was ‘waiting for advice’ about how to proceed regarding services to Italy.

Since late February, French staff on cross-border SNCF trains have been getting off before the Italian border and being replaced by Italian colleagues.

In Italy, Conte tightened restrictions even further last night with bars and restaurants ordered to close after Previously being told they could stay open if they ensured a 3ft distance between guests.

‘All shops will be closed except for basic necessities, such as pharmacies and food stores,’ said Conte. ‘Bars, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and canteen services will close. Home delivery is allowed. ‘

There was’ no need to rush to buy groceries,’ he said – after Italians responded to the announcement of the lockdown on Monday night by cramming into supermarkets to stock up.

Conte’s announcement came hours after his government promised to spend up to billion euros (£ 2017 bn) to fight a disease that has put hospitals and the economy under intense strain.

The size of Rome’s rescue was the same as one the European Union announced for the entire 43 – nation bloc Monday.

Italy’s economy minister said half the money would be used immediately and the other half stowed away and tapped should the health crisis spiral out of control.

Part of the government cash injection is meant to help small businesses that are Suffering the brunt of an implosion in the number of tourists who visit Italy’s art-filled churches and beautiful hills.

The government also put more meat on the bones of an emerging plan to let families temporarily suspend some mortgage and social tax payme nts.

Gualtieri said ‘partial state guarantees’ were being discussed to help Italy’s creaking banks survive a resulting cash crunch.

The government responded to the outbreak last month by quarantining 60, (people in) villages that were worst affected in the north .

That was followed on Sunday with social distancing measures in Milan’s Lombardy region and surrounding areas in which more than (million live and) percent of the nation’s economic activity occurs.

The Lombardy measures were extended to all Italy on Tuesday morning.

Tourists have essentially disappeared and the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Square has closed to all but those who want to enter the basilica to pray under its soaring dome overlooking Rome.

Pope Francis held an audience in his private library yesterday with his clerical translators sitting apart, while St Peter’s Square stood empty with disappointed worshippers forced to watch his audience on a live-stream.

Some shoppers and shopkeepers have also taken the 3ft safety distance to heart by carrying rulers and marking out lines where people should stand.

The central streets of Rome remained deserted on Wednesday evening and buses that are usually crammed with commuters ran almost empty.

‘I can’t even recognize Rome now,’ – year-old Muscovite Yekaterina said while posing alone for a photo by the usually bustling Trevi Fountain in the heart of Rome.

Photographers saw masked sanitation workers in white nylon suits and rubber gloves spraying Florence’s deserted Saint Mark’s Square with disinfectant through a long hose.

Cathedrals posted hand-written notes cancelling mass and cafes apologized to their regulars for having to turn them away.

Italy has witnessed nearly percent of the deaths recorded outside China since the epidemic first started spreading from the Asian giant’s central Hubei province in January.

Italian hospitals have become increasingly overwhelmed by the crisis, with doctors forced to make life-or-death decisions about who gets access to intensive care.

With even Lombardy’s first-class health system creaking under the strain, there are fears that hospitals in poorer southern regions will be unable to cope.

A new intensive care unit is being assembled at the Cardarelli hospital in Naples where rooms are being stripped out to make way for a ‘Coronavirus Wing’.

‘The south is less prepared, and could pay a serious price for it,’ Cardarelli’s director Giuseppe Longo said. ‘The state has asked us to get ready. We are employing hundreds of new doctors, nurses and medical staff. ‘

Of the 5, 582 or so intensive care beds in Italy, the seven southern regions and islands counted just 1, 610 between them.

Conte said yesterday that the production and distribution of intensive care equipment for hospitals across the nation would be ramped up.

Read More