The whole of Italy is now on lockdown, with about 60 million inhabitants forced to stay home until the coronavirus outbreak is contained.

The country’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that travel between the north and south of Italy will be restricted. Conte also said that Italy’s future is in his and the Italian citizens’ hands amid the growing concern over the coronavirus outbreak. Conte signed a decree on March 9 to urge Italians to stay home.

“Italy’s future is in our hands. We all do our part, giving up something for the good of the community. At stake is the health of our loved ones, our parents, our children, our grandparents. I just signed the decree #iorestoacasa,” Conte tweeted under the hashtag which translates as “I’m staying home.”

Travel will only be allowed for permitted work reasons, health conditions and urgent matters.

No more red zones

Conte added that there will be no more red zones or city quarantines such as the ones in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto for the past month. Instead, the whole country will be under travel restriction.

“There will be no more red areas, there will be Italy as a whole as a protected area. To this provision we also add the ban on outdoor gatherings,” Conte said.

Cases soar to over 9,000

Italy has registered 9,172 coronavirus cases, with 463 related deaths as of March 10.

A total of 4,028 people have died from the coronavirus across the globe and 114,530 cases have been confirmed thus far.

[article_ad]

Have a tip or story? Get in touch with our reporters here!