Italy bans internal travel as a further 651 die from coronavirus

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Italy bans internal travel as a further 651 die from coronavirus

By Crispian Balmer and Angelo Amante

 

The motorway A4 is seen empty, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, near Milan, Italy March 22, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

 

ROME (Reuters) - Italy banned travel within the country on Sunday in yet another attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as data showed a further 651 people had died from the disease, lifting the number of fatalities to 5,476.

 

A month after the first death from the highly infectious virus was registered in Italy, the government also issued an order freezing all business activity deemed non-essential in an effort to keep ever more people at home and off the streets.

 

Amongst the sectors targeted were the car, clothing and furniture industries. They have until Wednesday to wind down operations and will have to remain shuttered until April 3.

 

The interior and health ministries issued a separate statement, telling people they had to stay where they were, unless urgent business or health reasons forced them to move to another town or region.

 

Italy has registered more deaths than any other country in the world, while the number of confirmed cases is second only to China, with the tally rising by 5,560 to 59,138 on Sunday, the Civil Protection Agency said.

 

However, offering a ray of hope, the latest figures represented an improvement on Saturday, when the death toll rose by 793 and new cases increased by 6,557.

 

"We don't want to get over enthusiastic or overestimate a trend, but compared to yesterday there is a slight drop in the figures," said Franco Locatelli, the head of Italy's top health council, which advises the government.

 

"We must not lower our guard, we must continue with the measures taken and respect the government's instructions," he told a news conference.

 

Regional leaders having been pushing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for days to tighten the screws as infections have spiralled, but some business leaders and financiers expressed alarm at his decision to shutter more companies.

 

"AT WAR"

"The closure of production activity is devastating. Our companies will lose market share and won't be able to reopen for lack of liquidity," Alberto Forchielli, head of Mandarin Capital Partners private equity fund, wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

 

"This is the end of Italy's industrial system."

 

Amongst the companies that said they were halting production in Italy were the world's largest eyewear company, Luxottica.

 

However, union leaders accused Conte of not going far enough with his closure order, noting that dozens of sectors had won exemptions. They threatened to call a general strike if they thought too many workers were exposed to health risks.

 

In a video posted late Saturday night on Facebook, Conte said Italy was facing its most serious crisis since World War Two, with the health system in the wealthy north at breaking point and almost every intensive care bed now filled.

 

China has already sent medical equipment and doctors to help Italy, while more than 50 Cuban doctors arrived in Milan on Sunday to provide assistance to the stretched hospitals.

 

 

The Russian military said it would also start sending aid to Italy on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.

 

Domenico Arcuri, head of the government's coronavirus relief effort, told state broadcaster RAI that Italy was "at war".

 

"All wars are won in two ways, with one's own army and with the help of ones' own allies," he said.

 

(Additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, Giselda Vagnoni and Gavin Jones in Rome, and Elvira Pollina in Milan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-23

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[phantomfiddler]

Sorry but I just don,t get it ! Italy with a population of 60 million is experiencing THOUSANDS of times the death rate of Thailand which has a population of around 70 million ! One would expect the opposite, that the general level of medical help would be superior in a European country. It doesn,t make sense, except maybe for the temperatures in Italy being colder than here. All I can say is, keep a couple of lemons handy, and put the whole lemon in the blender (it,s all in the skin !) then add honey and hot water to make it palatable ????

[atyclb]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Sorry but I just don,t get it ! Italy with a population of 60 million is experiencing THOUSANDS of times the death rate of Thailand which has a population of around 70 million ! One would expect the opposite, that the general level of medical help would be superior in a European country. It doesn,t make sense, except maybe for the temperatures in Italy being colder than here. All I can say is, keep a couple of lemons handy, and put the whole lemon in the blender (it,s all in the skin !) then add honey and hot water to make it palatable ????

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-deaths-from-coronavirus-are-so-high-in-italy/

 

 

 

https://abc14news.com/2020/03/21/italian-virologist-says-political-correctness-doomed-his-countrys-coronavirus-response/

A proposal to isolate travelers from China was considered as ‘racist’

The esteemed virologist included: “There was a proposal to isolate persons coming from the epicenter, coming from China.”

Having said that, the Italian federal government balked at the strategy out of singling out travelers coming from China out of worry it could be construed as racist.

“Then it grew to become noticed as racist, but they were being people today coming from the outbreak.” Palù explained this in the end led to the virus killing about 4,800 people today in Italy, the most of any nation in the entire world.

‘Hug a Chinese Day’

 

As RedState’s Nick Arama details out, Italians ended up so preoccupied with perceptions of racism that the mayor of Florence even launched a “Hug a Chinese” Day initiative soon right after President Donald Trump and Italian Key Minister Giuseppe Conte declared travel restrictions on China.

“We adhere to the directions of the health authorities and we use caution, but no psychological terrorism,” Mayor Dario Nardella saidin a tweet saying the initiative though blasting these he mentioned “could not wait to use this justification to detest and insult.” Nardella included the hashtag #AbbracciaUnCinese (#HugAChinese).

Normally, Beijing welcomed Florence’s “Hug a Chinese Day” venture and promoted it by Communist Party mouthpieces CGTN and International Moments.

More than 53,578 Italians have analyzed beneficial for COVID-19 as of Saturday evening.

Edited March 23, 2020 by atyclb

[marko kok prong]

could it be pasta?

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, marko kok prong said:

could it be pasta?

Yep , pasta virus from one to anudder. Oh I did find little black bugs in a packet of pasta last year . Masks would keep those little critters out.

[DrTuner]

I remember wondering how did they manage to get the Italians to work in factories when one of wife's expensive bags had a "Made in Italy" badge in it. Turns out it was Made in Italy, by the Chinese. 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-chinese-workers-who-assemble-designer-bags-in-tuscany

 

There's always a price to pay when dealing with people that think messing with bats is a good idea.

Edited March 23, 2020 by DrTuner

[4737 Carlin]

6 hours ago, atyclb said:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-deaths-from-coronavirus-are-so-high-in-italy/

 

 

 

https://abc14news.com/2020/03/21/italian-virologist-says-political-correctness-doomed-his-countrys-coronavirus-response/

A proposal to isolate travelers from China was considered as ‘racist’

The esteemed virologist included: “There was a proposal to isolate persons coming from the epicenter, coming from China.”

Having said that, the Italian federal government balked at the strategy out of singling out travelers coming from China out of worry it could be construed as racist.

“Then it grew to become noticed as racist, but they were being people today coming from the outbreak.” Palù explained this in the end led to the virus killing about 4,800 people today in Italy, the most of any nation in the entire world.

‘Hug a Chinese Day’

 

As RedState’s Nick Arama details out, Italians ended up so preoccupied with perceptions of racism that the mayor of Florence even launched a “Hug a Chinese” Day initiative soon right after President Donald Trump and Italian Key Minister Giuseppe Conte declared travel restrictions on China.

“We adhere to the directions of the health authorities and we use caution, but no psychological terrorism,” Mayor Dario Nardella saidin a tweet saying the initiative though blasting these he mentioned “could not wait to use this justification to detest and insult.” Nardella included the hashtag #AbbracciaUnCinese (#HugAChinese).

Normally, Beijing welcomed Florence’s “Hug a Chinese Day” venture and promoted it by Communist Party mouthpieces CGTN and International Moments.

More than 53,578 Italians have analyzed beneficial for COVID-19 as of Saturday evening.

Yep. The "fear of being called racist" will, one way or another, literally lead to the extinction of western civilization. The same insanity allowed the mass, industrial-scale rape of children in Britain.