ITALY (NBC) – Italy is struggling to cope with a spike in coronavirus infections, and now more than a quarter of the population is on lockdown.
About 16 million Italians are in quarantine as economic and social life is grinding to a halt this morning.
The Italian government is testing more citizens and finding that the virus is more widespread than expected.
There was a crowded scene outside Milan’s main train station as the government announced this weekend it was sealing off several of its industrialized northern and central provinces. No one wanted to miss the last trains out.
Public gatherings, including funerals, are now discouraged or outright banned. Museums are closed.
Some church services were conducted in the open air to limit the crowds at St. Peter’s square, the Pope delivered his Sunday angelus online, only appearing briefly in his window at the Vatican.
Prisoners afraid they’re trapped in with the coronavirus rioted in one city.
In South Korea, another hotspot, people are lining up to buy facemasks. Now rationed, they’re only available to buy at set times and places.
In China, there is some potentially encouraging news. The country says the rate of new infections is going down.
State TV reported that 11 of the 14 makeshift hospitals built in Wuhan, where the virus began, have been closed.
Many patients are recovering and being discharged.
Stock markets across Europe have been tanking as investors worry that the steps that Italy is taking are only the beginning and that other countries will start to follow with mass closures, mass quarantines of their own.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.