Weddings, museums, movie theatres shopping malls, and even restaurants are all hit by the new restrictions, which focus on a swath of northern Italy but are disrupting daily life around the country. After mass testing uncovered more than 7,300 infections, Italy now has registered more cases of the virus than any country but China, where it's now on the retreat.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree early Sunday for the country's prosperous north. Areas under lockdown include Milan, Italy's financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, and Venice, the main city in the neighbouring Veneto region. The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3.The pope, who has been ill, held his Sunday blessing by video instead of in person, even though he wasn't directly affected by the lockdown.
Infections mounted higher Sunday in other epicenters -- South Korea, Iran and especially Italy. And with a nose-dive in tourist traffic and major disruptions to supply chains worldwide, stocks struggled Sunday as Mideast indexes fell 4% to 10%. Students at the University of Padua in northern Italy who had been out at bars on a Saturday night saw the reports on their phones and rushed back to the train station.
Governments across Europe tightened their rules. The prime minister of Portugal is self-isolating. Bulgaria banned all indoor public events. France's president and Germany's governing parties held emergency security meetings as the number of cases in each country surpassed 1,000.The Grand Princess cruise ship, where 21 people have tested positive for the virus, was heading Sunday to Oakland after idling off San Francisco for days. It expects to land Monday.
Worried about covid-19 ? Who did anything for the 20 million yeminites risking famine a year and a half ago ? God is a good teacher and I am His Messenger.
Lots of travel bans should have been enacted 6 weeks ago. Focus on the failure that is our own PM please.