The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen by 31% in 24 hours in Italy as governments across Europe cancelled events, shut schools and imposed draconian travel bans and the World Health Organization formally declared a pandemic.
Italy’s civil protection service said the number of deaths rose to 827 on Wednesday, while the total number of cases in the EU member state that has been by far the hardest hit by the virus rose to 12,462 from 10,149.
The country, which on Monday banned its 62 million people from all travel unless certified as justified on professional or health grounds, faced calls to impose even tighter restrictions in the country’s most coronavirus-affected areas.
Angelo Borrelli, Italy’s civil protection chief, said requests from senior politicians, including the opposition League leader Matteo Salvini, to “close everything” bar supermarkets and pharmacies in the northern Lombardy and Veneto regions “must be examined, considered and assessed”.
Saying that the word pandemic was “not a term to use lightly”, the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also warned that the challenge was not whether countries could change the course of the virus but whether they would. Some are struggling with a lack of capacity, but some with “a lack of resolve”, he said.
Evidence of a widening European crisis began to appear, with Albania, Belgium, Sweden, Bulgaria and Ireland all registering their first deaths from the coronavirus and Spain confirming a steep rise in cases by a quarter to more than 2,000.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said 60-70% of the country’s population could become infected and the priority was to slow the spread of the virus so health systems could cope.
Germany has confirmed 1,300 infections, with two deaths, and recommended the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people.
The Elysée palace said President Emmanuel Macron would address the nation on Thursday evening. France has reported 33 deaths and 1,784 confirmed cases.
Hungary on Wednesday suspended all travel from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China while Austria halted all remaining trains to Italy. Poland and Ukraine joined the countries closing their schools and universities.
Posted by All Italy lockdown, virus outpaces containment on Tue, 10 Mar 2020 03:03 | #
Coronavirus: Italy extends strict measures to whole country – BBC News