Italian Lock-Down

From USA Today:

“Italy locks down 'hot spot' cities; WHO says coronavirus 'not yet' a pandemic”

(The Red are areas with confirmed cases. The Blue are suspected cases.)

A swath of "hot spot" cities and towns across northern Italy were in lockdown Monday as authorities battled to contain a fast-spreading outbreak of the new coronavirus that has already killed 2,600 in China. The unrelenting spread of the virus pushed global stocks sharply lower Monday amid fears the outbreak could become a global pandemic – a worldwide outbreak of a serious new illness. The outbreak is not there yet, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. "For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this virus, and we are not witnessing large-scale, severe disease or death," Tedros said Monday. "Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely. Are we there yet? From our assessment not yet." Tedros said a WHO team that spent time in China has determined the outbreak there peaked in late January and early February and has been in decline since. Tedros said a recent boom in cases in Italy, South Korea and Iran was "certainly very concerning." But he said China has shown that the virus can be contained. In Europe, "protecting our citizens is the main priority," said Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. "We are all taking this situation seriously, but without giving in to panic, disorder or disinformation." In Italy, the death toll rose to five. With more than 200 cases of the virus confirmed, Italy is easily the most involved European country. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has banned people from leaving infected areas, and police have been ordered to fine anyone caught entering or leaving certain towns. Soldiers patrolled piazzas in Milan, and Venice shut down its iconic carnival three days early as Italy tightened restrictions on large public gatherings that could fan the spread of the virus. Police-manned road blocks have been set up to stop people entering or leaving about a dozen towns. Several regions have closed schools, universities, museums, monuments and libraries and banned public events that attract big crowds. Basilicata Gov. Vito Bardi ordered 14-day quarantines for anyone entering his sprawling southern region from the northern Italy. Virus investigators in Italy suffered a setback when a person who recently visited China and was thought to be the "patient zero" for the Italian outbreak tested negative for the virus. Kyriakides announced that a team of experts from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization was being sent to help Italy in its efforts to limit the transmission of COVID-19. "We are following the situation in Italy very closely and commend the Italian authorities for their swift and efficient action," Kyriakides said.

^ It seems that China hasn’t been doing that great of a job containing Covid-19 and the WHO has been very slow in dealing with this epidemic. I can understand Italy locking-down the affected areas, but I hope the authorities there are providing food, medicine and health care to everyone there whether they are affected or not. You  can’t simply lock a city or region down and make the people living there fend for themselves. ^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_outbreak_in_Italy#/media/File:COVID-19_Outbreak_Cases_in_Italy.svg

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/24/coronavirus-pandemic-fears-sweep-europe-italy-locks-down-towns/4854842002/