CLOSED shops, plunging stock markets and prison riots marked the first day after Italy locked down much of its northern region in a bid to fight the coronavirus outbreak with some of the most draconian control measures since World War Two.
Faced with Europe’s most serious outbreak of the highly contagious virus, Italy imposed strict controls on travel from the northern region of Lombardy and parts of neighbouring Veneto, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna.
The government also ordered cinemas, theaters and museums to close, cancelled sporting events and told shops and restaurants to ensure that patrons remained at least a meter apart.
The measures, unprecedented in Italy’s postwar history, tightened controls, including school closures that were imposed after the coronavirus emerged in a small town outside the financial capital, Milan, last month.
In a little over two weeks, the number of recorded cases has surged to 7,375 with 366 deaths, putting the health system under massive strain, with intensive care facilities struggling to handle the influx of new cases.
“We have two objectives, contain the spread of this virus and strengthen the health system so that it can meet this challenge,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in an interview with the daily La Repubblica. “We’re a strong country,” he added
In Milan, public transport was working but streets were much quieter than normal, with many smaller shops and cafes closed. Even among those left open, most remained empty, meaning any requirement to maintain a distance of at least a meter between customers was purely theoretical.
“There’s been nobody at all. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said a shop assistant at the Rinascente department store in the city center.
But the most dramatic illustration of the shock came in the country’s overcrowded prisons where inmates rioted in jails across the country. In Modena, in the red zone, six prisoners died in a riot apparently triggered by restrictions on visiting rights imposed to fight the virus.
The World Health Organisation said aggressive measures were warranted to stop the spread of the virus.
“What is critical at this stage is that everybody join the efforts and do their part,” a spokesman said.
But with Italy on the brink of recession, the government’s steps have come at an economic cost.
Also yesterday, Iran temporarily freed about 70,000 prisoners to combat the spread of coronavirus in jails, the country’s head of the judiciary said yesterday.
The temporarily release came after an official reported hundreds of new infections and dozens more deaths across the country.
Iran has reported 595 new infections and 43 new deaths in the past 24 hours.
This brings to 7,161, the total number of cases of coronavirus in the country, with 237 deaths, the health ministry spokesman said.
Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi announced the temporary release of prisoners as Iranian authorities seek to counter one of the worst national outbreaks outside China, where the new virus originated, and one of the highest death rates from the illness.
Raisi said the release of prisoners would continue “to the point where it doesn’t create insecurity in society”, according to the Mizan news site of the judiciary.
He did not give further details or specify when those released would have to return to jail.
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