Virus locks down Italy amid global push to contain outbreak
Nicole Winfield | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
A worker sprays disinfectant as sanitization operations against Coronavirus are carried out in the museum hosted by the Maschio Angioino medieval castle, in Naples, Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (Alessandro Pone/LaPresse via AP)
Personnel of a special ambulance for the transportation of the new Coronavirus patients, finish dressing up before intervening in Rome Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Paolo Santalucia)
A prelate walks outside St. Peter's Square after the Vatican erected a new barricade at the edge of the square, in Rome, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Italy entered its first day under a nationwide lockdown after a government decree extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of the country to prevent the spreading of coronavirus. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A Civil Defense worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus in the main market, Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
People wearing face masks walk across the Millennium footbridge backdropped by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral in London, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Starkly illustrating the global east-to-west spread of the new coronavirus, Italy began an extraordinary, sweeping nationwide travel ban on Tuesday while in China, the diminishing threat prompted the president to visit the epicenter and declare: ""We will certainly defeat this epidemic." (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Medical personnel leaves one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures outside the hospital of Brescia, Northern Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Customers, some with protective masks, queue at the check out of a supermarket as people begin to stock up on provisions in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. (AP Photo/Paul White)
A member of the medical staff measures the temperature of a traveller at a autobahn park place near Gries am Brenner, Austrian province of Tyrol, at border crossing with Italy on Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Austria authorities started on random checks of arriving vehicles at the border crossings with Italy in reaction to the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Europe, particularly in Italy. As part of the move, officials measure the temperatures of some passengers in cars, trucks and buses. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For so…
Empty shelves in a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. People have emptied shelves of food and supplies in supermarkets in Madrid after Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Chinese students wave their hands after they are released from a two-week isolation at a dormitory amid the spread of the coronavirus at the Dankook University in Yongin, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Hong Gi-won/Yonhap via AP)
A man walks with a stick passes by a huge screen showing a colourful art at a quiet shopping mall in Beijing, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. China's president Xi Jinping visited the center of the global virus outbreak Tuesday as Italy began a sweeping nationwide travel ban and people worldwide braced for the possibility of recession. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Two people walk in Rome's Piazza Navona, deserted, Tuesday evening, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A policeman checks cars entering Milan, Northern Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. People moving from one place to another must certificate they are doing it for work or important personal or health reasons, following the latest measures to slow down the diffusion of the new Coronavirus. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Few people walk at the Naviglio Grande canal, one of the favorite spots for night life in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Italy entered its second day under a nationwide lockdown after a government decree extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of the country to prevent the spreading of coronavirus. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Medical personnel works inside one of the emergency structures that were set up to ease procedures outside the hospital of Brescia, Northern Italy, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
ROME (AP) — The boisterous hum of Rome dwindled to a whisper and police patrols kept people apart in cafes as Italy enforced an extraordinary, sweeping lockdown in hopes of not becoming the next epicenter of the spreading coronavirus epidemic now that life in China is edging back to normal.
Infections in Italy topped the 10,000 mark — more than anywhere but China — and the number of deaths from the virus rose Tuesday to 631 from 463 a day earlier, Italian Civil Protection authorities said.
Police across the country patrolled cafes to ensure owners kept customers 1 meter (3 feet) apart during daylight hours and then enforced a strict 6 p.m. closure order.
“It’s bad. People are terrorized,” said Massimo Leonardo, who runs a market stall. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. More than 119,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 4,200 have died.
By encouraging many of Italy's 62 million people to stay home and further drying up what was left of the country's already battered tourism industry, the lockdown could increase the likelihood of a recession, dealing another blow to reeling global markets.
Italy's economy, the third-largest of the 19 countries that use the euro currency, relies heavily on industries requiring the physical presence and proximity of workers: tourism, manufacturing, and retail.
Italians shouldn’t leave home unless for work, health care or “necessities” such as grocery shopping, the premier's office said. Early closures of shops, cafes and restaurants amounted to a seismic restriction in a country that prizes its gastronomy, luxuries and cafe culture.
“I’ll do whatever they tell me to do,” Rome florist Stefano Fulvi said. “If I have to close, I’ll close.”
Italy also found itself increasingly sealed off as other countries sought to keep infections contained.
Malta and Spain announced a ban on air traffic from Italy. British Airways and Air Canada suspended all Italy flights. Austria barred travelers from crossing the border without a medical certificate. Slovenia closed its border with Italy, and Albania banned Italy air and ferry traffic. Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and Germany strengthened travel advisories and urged their citizens to leave. Even the Vatican erected a new barricade at the edge of St. Peter’s Square.
"Get out of northern Italy if you’re there,” said Erik Broegger Rasmussen, head of consular services for Denmark’s foreign ministry.
But in China, the diminishing threat prompted President Xi Jinping to visit the central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, on Tuesday and declare: "We will certainly defeat this epidemic."
It was the latest sign that China is edging back toward normal after weeks of extreme quarantine measures. A day after Xi's visit to Wuhan, China reported just 24 new infections Wednesday, down from thousands each day last month.
“Things are slowly returning to normal," said Yang Tianxiao, a finance worker in Beijing, where the city government is gradually easing restrictions.
In a reversal of positions, China is seeing new cases brought in from overseas. In Beijing, the capital, all the new cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday came from outside the country, five from Italy and one from the United States.
Improving reports continued to come from South Korea, too, with 242 new cases reported Wednesday, a considerable drop from its highs.
But in growing swaths of the globe, virus-related disruptions were increasingly the new normal. More than 100 countries — over half of the United Nations' membership — have now confirmed cases.
France's government advised voters to bring their own pens to local elections Sunday so they won't have to share. The United Nations announced the closure of its New York headquarters complex to the general public. Albania told its citizens to stay home — banning public gatherings and shuttering schools, entertainment centers, gymnasiums and public pools.
The virus reached into the corridors of power. In the United States, several senior politicians were self-quarantined, and in Spain, a leading member of a far-right party tested positive for the virus. A British health minister became the first UK lawmaker to be diagnosed with the disease.
At least two top European military commanders also tested positive after a conference on an American military base in Germany, and the commander of U.S. Army in Europe isolated himself in case he also was exposed.
New York’s governor announced he is sending the National Guard to scrub public places and deliver food in a New York City suburb that is at the center of the nation's biggest known cluster of infections.
In Washington state, where 19 of its 24 deaths have been connected to a Seattle-area nursing home, Gov. Jay Inslee announced new rules for screening health care workers and limiting visitors at nursing homes. Inslee was planning a news conference for Wednesday morning to announce a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, a person involved in planning the decision told The Associated Press.
And in California, thousands of restless passengers stuck on a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus waited their turn to get off the vessel and head to U.S. military bases or their home countries for two weeks of quarantine.
Worldwide, growing numbers of children were being taught online as school closures spread. The outbreak has interrupted schooling for nearly 363 million students worldwide, with 15 countries imposing nationwide school closures and 14 implementing localized closures, the U.N.'s education agency said.
The virus has shaken global markets. U.S. stocks, oil and other financial markets around the world went on another wild ride Tuesday, clawing back ground after their historic plunge the previous day.
Investors are likely to see more big swings until the number of infections slows down, and fear was still rampant that economies stood at the brink of recession, market watchers said.
“We are in a global panic," said Estelle Brack, an economist in Paris. “We are in the deep unknown.”
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Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in Bangkok; Colleen Barry in Soave, Italy; Antonio Calanni in Milan; Ken Moritsugu in Beijing; Carlo Piovano in London; David Rising in Berlin; and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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