The ENTIRE country of Italy under lockdown

ITALY QUARANTINES 
ENTIRE COUNTRY - 
TANKS ON THE STREETS ! !  
CORONAVIRUS

Hal Turner,
9 March,2020

The Prime Minister of Italy has just gone on national television and announced the government is extending the "Red Zone" for coronavirus outbreak, to the ENTIRE COUNTRY of Italy. The ENTIRE COUNTRY is now ordered under Lockdown. UPDATE: TANKS DEPLOYING ON CITY STREETS ! ! !

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

UPDATE 5:07 PM EDT --

The Prime Minister has told the Italian people they should ALL stay home. It is the only sure way to end the spread of the virus. If they do not stop the virus immediately, the country's health system will be so overloaded it will collapse, then no one gets care. Staying home will save lives.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Monday he will sign a decree that extends the lockdown of the Lombardy region to the entire country as Italy’s COVID-19 death toll continues to rise.

Around 60 million people will now effectively be placed under quarantine by the strict measures which had already been introduced in northern and some central areas over the weekend.

People throughout the country should not leave their homes other than for work and emergencies, Conte said. He added that all public gatherings will be banned and sporting events suspended. The decision was made to protect the most vulnerable people in the country, he said, and the measures will take effect Tuesday.

“Stay at home,” Conte told reporters.

Schools and universities all over the country will remain closed until April 3, he said, but public transit will remain operational. All schools in the country were previously closed until March 15.

Italian officials previously announced a lockdown of the Lombardy region, which is the hardest-hit part of the country by COVID-19. The drastic expansion of the measures to encompass the entire country come after nationwide COVID-19 deaths jumped by 97 to 463.

Italy is the hardest-hit country in Europe by the virus, with a total of at least 9,172 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

UPDATE 5:40 PM EDT --

Tanks are deploying onto the streets of cities in Italy to enforce the QUARANTINE! ! ! Video below:

A day after northern Italy was put on lockdown over the COVID-19 coronavirus, PM Giuseppe Conte imposed quarantine on the entire country, restricting movement and banning public gatherings.

The unprecedented move was announced by Conte on Monday evening local time, and came as Italy's death toll from the coronavirus rose by almost 100.

The number of deaths jumped from 366 to 463 on Monday, while the total number of cases grew from 7,375 to 9,172.

“There won’t be just a red zone,” Conte told reporters, referring to the restrictions imposed on the country’s north over the weekend. “There will be Italy.”

The restrictions will take effect on Tuesday morning, Conte said. They include a blanket ban on any public gatherings, sporting events, and movement all over Italy.

Citizens were advised to stay home unless they absolutely need to go to work or due to an emergency. Despite the restrictions, public transport will continue to function, the PM said.

Closures of schools and universities across the country have been extended to April 3.

Conte’s decision has effectively extended the anti-coronavirus measures implemented for the north of the country on Sunday. The north of Italy – in particular the Lombardy region – is the hotbed of the outbreak, and the majority of registered deaths from the virus originate from this region.

Italy is dealing with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe, which is on par with the situations in Iran and South Korea – the two other countries outside China affected the most by the epidemic.

https://www.rt.com/news/482688-italy-quarantine-all-country/

Italian prisoners RIOT over coronavirus safety measures (VIDEOS)

Italy, which is battling the worst Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, has experienced a series of prison riots in virus-plagued areas. The unrest has been triggered by a move to suspend family visits over the coronavirus threat.

“There have been a series of rebellions across the country,” Italy's prison administration head Francesco Basentini said on Monday.

The government’s efforts to contain the virus, which has already killed over 360 people across the nation, triggered riots at several prisons in Italy. While staying inside might be not the worst way to avoid the coronavirus, some prisoners, apparently, wanted to get in touch with it in person.

Today, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus would be extended across the whole of the country.

New Zealand man Jack Milner-George said the viral outbreak had affected his group's itinerary, and their planned two nights in Venice were canned in favour of an extra night in Rome.

They left the country by bus, driving straight through northern Italy without stopping.

But he said they were surprised there weren't more stringent checks at the border, or temperature tests.

"You know, it could have been a bus full of people who were infected and we're not - everyone is fine but no-one knows. Literally anyone could have gone through," he said.

While he wasn't worried, Milner-George said he was glad to be out of Italy.

"I just want to go back to New Zealand, I'm loving my trip but New Zealand is just where I want to be at the moment.

"I'm good, but there's other people on the trip that might have been freaking out a little bit and obviously people freaking out just causes more panic."

Now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has upgraded its travel advice for Italy, advising against all non-essential travel. MFAT also has 'do not travel' warnings in place for both China and Iran.

Within Italy, people are being told they should stay at home unless they had solid reasons related to work, health or other special needs. Commuting to work would still be allowed.

School and university closures have been extended until 3 April. The government also adopted a decree to stop all sporting activities, including Serie A football matches, the prime minister said.

'They take their dogs but leave their au pairs behind'

Camilla Strumia lives in Milan and told Checkpoint the severe measures were necessary.

"Chemists are open and only one person is allowed in at a time.

Supermarkets are stocked with food and supplies but there's hardly anybody going to them and in general - around town and on the streets, there's not very many people.

"Pedestrians stand at traffic lights at least a metre away from each other - the energy's not amazing and in general people are very to themselves and suspicious of each other

But she said not everyone was taking the outbreak seriously.

"You know everybody was running away from Milan on Saturday to go to southern Italy. I had an opportunity to get away from Lombardy and join my family in Rome and I decided not to because I wanted to sit at home and risk not having anyone to look after me because I could make everyone sick. It's about not being selfish."

New Plymouth teenager Emily Hutching-Gough is working as an Au Pair in Rome - the 19 year old recently returned from a trip to Naples which has spooked the family she's working for.

"They're a bit worried that I might have caught something when I was over there and so now for the next couple of weeks when I'm with the girl, I have to wear a face mask, gloves. We've extended the table so I can keep a metre distance and if I want something from the distance I have to use gloves or ask and I have to use a different place for my dry goods as well."

Ms Hutching-Gough said she was hopeful she will be able to stay in Italy - but was bracing herself for a return home if things got worse.

"I know people who actually have to leave anyway, because the families have decided to run away to their holiday homes in the countryside and wait for things to blow over, it's kind of wild - the families that flee take their dogs but leave their au pairs behind."

'It really is Zombieland'

Australian woman Rachel Beagley has lived in Bagno a Ripoli, a small town or commune near Florence, for about 10 years.

She owns a small shoe-making business, New Kid Footwear.

"Because I'm technically not meant to leave my commune, I'm not actually meant to leave Bagno a Ripoli, but I'm so close to Florence I should be able to get away with that, so I can go to work if I need to - not that we really have any customers - but I can still go there and do office stuff."

Beagley said the new restrictions will make visiting factories around Tuscany more difficult.

"I will have to have paperwork in my car basically, declaring what I'm doing and where I'm going and all the communes I need to go to."

Beagley said since the covid-19 outbreak, it's been eerily quiet in Florence - a popular tourist area.

"About a month ago, it was packed with people, there were so many tourists everywhere. Now there's nobody, it's so weird.

"It is kind of like a horror movie, it really is Zombieland."

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/411377/new-zealand-man-describes-leaving-italy-as-nation-goes-into-lockdown