The death toll had jumped by 168 to 631, the largest rise in absolute numbers since the contagion came to light.
Shops and restaurants closed, hundreds of flights were cancelled and streets emptied across Italy on Tuesday, the first day of an unprecedented, nationwide lockdown imposed to slow Europe’s worst outbreak of coronavirus.
The government has told all Italians to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel until April 3, radically widening steps already taken in much of the wealthy north, which is the epicentre of the spreading contagion. “It is a total disaster. This will reduce us to nothing ... More people are going to die as a result of the economic crisis that this lockdown is going to cause than the virus itself.”
While Lombardy accounts for 74% of all the fatalities, the disease has now touched all of the country and the government is worried that if it worsens, the health system in the less developed south will collapse, causing deaths to spike.Rome landmarks including the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps were largely empty on Tuesday, while the Vatican closed St Peter’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica to tourists. Police told holidaymakers to return to their hotels.
Looking to mitigate the impact on ordinary Italians, the government is considering making banks offer customers a pause in their mortgage repayments. It also called for the European Union to relax its rules to allow more state spending.
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