The Italian government has banned all internal travel, an escalation to previous restrictions in place, in attempt to control the spread of the virus and hopefully contain it.
Italy has been badly hit by the spread of the coronavirus, with death toll now far higher than that of China where the virus first started in late December.
The last 3 days, Italy reported numbers of those killed far surpassing the daily reports that were issued by the China at the peak of their epidemic with the virus. Italy has been reporting more than 600 dead, daily, with one day the number reaching 768 people. More than 5,500 Italians are testing positive every day, with the average age of those dying 78.5.
Italy’s travel ban was announced as all non-essential businesses including car, clothing and furniture makers were ordered to close .
Supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and post offices are among businesses that will be permitted to keep trading under the new rules. On Sunday, Italians were also banned from moving across municipalities other than for “non-deferrable and proven business or health reasons or other urgent matters”, the health ministry said.
Another 651 Italians died on Sunday, bringing the overall toll to more than 5,400. Nearly 60,000 people across the country are confirmed to have the virus.
Globally, more than 14,500 people have now died from COVID-19. An estimated 98,000 of the 336,000 people who have been diagnosed with the disease across the world have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the pandemic.
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