More than 60 million people in Italy are to be put under lockdown after the country’s government extended emergency measures across the entire country in an attempt to stop the spread of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus).
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte declared the drastic measures to be put in place at an evening press conference late on Monday, in which he banned all public gatherings and told the people to “stay at home.”
“There is no more time. I will take responsibility for these measures. Our future is in our hands,” he told reporters.
Italy is currently dealing with Europe’s worst outbreak of Covid-19, which has claimed 463 lives and has infected 9,172 people.
Conte announced that restrictions on travel and public gatherings initially imposed on northern regions on Sunday had been extended to cover the entire country.
“I am going to sign a decree that can be summarised as follows: I stay at home,” he said. “The whole of Italy will become a protected zone.”
Under the decree, all public events in Italy will be banned: cinemas, theatres, gyms, discos and pubs closed, and funerals, weddings and sporting events cancelled in an attempt to combat the Coronavirus spread. All schools and universities will remain closed until 3 April.
The current number of deaths in Italy is now at 463 fatalities. A total of 733 people are also reportedly in intensive care against a previous total of 650.
“The figures show we are experiencing a serious increase in infections, an increase in people hospitalised in intensive care – and an increase, unfortunately, in deaths. We need to change our lifestyle. We need to change it now. That’s why I have decided to adopt these hard measures,” said Conte.
Under the new decree, people will only be able to travel between cities for emergency reasons and can face fines and up to three months in jail for breaking quarantine rules.
Watch a Channel 9 report on the matter below.
