Italy which is the worst hit European country and outside of Asia, with the dreaded coronavirus, has extended its initial lockdown measures to the entire country.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announced the lockdown measures on Monday night that a new government decree will require all people in Italy to demonstrate a need to work, health conditions or other limited reasons to travel outside the areas where they live.
“There won’t be just a red zone,” Conte told reporters referring to a lockdown of areas in northern Italy instituted over the weekend.
“There will be Italy” as a protected area, he said.
Before the lockdown measures, and since the country recorded it’s first coronavirus outbreak, the death toll has jumped by at least 133 to 366 in the last 24hours, as cases continues to spread.
The country had imposed a quarantine in Lombardy and other severely affected areas, affecting some 16 million people as it stepped up efforts to tackle Europe’s largest outbreak.
The move came as the country struggles to contain the virus’s spread, with 1,247 new cases detected in the last 24 hours – a 25 percent surge. As of Sunday, Italy confirmed 7,375 infections.