Movement around the country is only permitted for business or health reasons, with police carrying out checks on highways and trains. Airports remain open, but several airlines have canceled flights to Italy.
There was confusion across the country on the first day of a national lockdown that includes a ban on all public events, the closure of schools and public spaces -- including museums and movie theaters -- and the suspension of religious services including funerals or weddings.Hundreds of seats lay eerily empty in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, which was closed to tourists on Tuesday.
In Sestri Levante, northern Italy, Alex Roggero, a photographer and author, was stranded while trying to reach his elderly parents who are ill and in quarantine. He told CNN:"We are in complete lockdown. I can see a few people walking around but they are not supposed to."He said he was concerned about the virus spreading south,"where things don't work as well," and said the government should have acted earlier to build hospitals.
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