Italy’s government has ordered all shops, bars and restaurants across the country to close after the country’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose by 31% in the space of 24 hours to a total of 827.
As governments across Europe cancelled events, shut schools and imposed travel bans and the World Health Organization formally declared a pandemic, the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said all stores would close nationwide bar those selling “basic necessities”, such as pharmacies and supermarkets.
“Industries can stay open, but with strict measures in place, as well as essential services such as banks. Transport will be guaranteed,” Conte said on Wednesday night, warning Italy’s population of over 60 million not to “rush to the supermarkets” as shelves would be restocked as normal.
On Monday the government banned its 62 million people from all travel unless certified as justified on professional or health grounds, and asked people to stay mainly at home. “Just a few days ago I asked you to change your habits, and you have responded in an extraordinary way,” Conte said.
Italians’ “great sacrifices” were making “a great and precious contribution to the country”, he said. He added that the impact of the new measures would only be clear in a few weeks’ time and thanked the nation for its efforts, saying: “We’ll soon return to hugging each other.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the civil protection service said the total number of coronavirus cases in Italy – the EU member state that has been by far the hardest hit by the virus – had risen to 12,462 from 10,149, with 560 of those in intensive care.
Saying that the word pandemic was “not a term to use lightly”, the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Wednesday 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 to 2,152 – the second highest in Europe after Italy – and 50 deaths.
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 the president, Emmanuel Macron, would address the nation on Thursday evening. Health minister Olivier Véran advised vulnerable people to stay at home and barred external visits to old people’s homes for “several weeks”. France has now recorded 2,281 confirmed cases in 10 main clusters in France and 48 deaths.
Denmark shut all schools and universities after a 10-fold rise in cases since Monday. Hungary suspended all travel from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China, and Austria halted all remaining trains to Italy. Poland and Ukraine also joined the countries closing their schools and universities.
The economic impact of the virus, and the measures introduced to contain it, continued to grow, with Spain’s tourism industry – the nation’s third largest, accounting for 11% of GDP – the latest to say it feared huge losses over Easter. Spain confirmed 47 deaths on Wednesday.
Italy’s ambassador to the EU criticised a lack of solidarity from the bloc, saying it had to come up with “emergency actions that are quick, concrete and effective”.
Conte and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, later issued a joint statement saying the country was “at the forefront of the crisis” and the 26 other member states would coordinate their responses more closely.
After member states including France and Germany limited exports of protective medical equipment, the statement also called for “any restrictive measure by member states to be first discussed at the European level so that vital supplies go where they are needed most”.
The EU has pledged to release funds worth up to €25bn (£22bn), with the commission making €7.5bn available to trigger €17.5-€18bn in co-funding from national governments. The bloc will also also be flexible in implementing its rules on state aid to allow governments to subsidise industry as required.
Among other developments:
The coronavirus has infected more than 119,000 people globally and caused nearly 4,300 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
In Iran, the government announced 63 new deaths, making a total toll of 354. The senior vice-president and two other cabinet members are infected, a semi-official news agency reported. Bahrain reported 77 new cases among citizens evacuated from Iran by plane.
China has agreed to sell more than 2m face masks, 10,000 pulmonary ventilators and 20,000 protective suits to Italy after a phone call between the foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
The virus claimed its first victims in Panama and Indonesia.
Turkey reported its first official case, a Turkish national who had returned from Europe.
The coronavirus has disrupted travel, closed schools, halted manufacturing and played havoc with sporting, cultural and political events around the world. In the US, the number of cases has exceeded 1,000 and at least 28 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Several major events, including the Coachella music festival, were postponed, Democratic presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders cancelled campaign rallies, colleges around the country began teaching classes online, and there were mounting concerns about the spread of the virus in residential care homes.
The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.
The UN agency advises people to:
- Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap
- Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough
- Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers
- Avoid direct, unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals when visiting live markets in affected areas
- Avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.
Despite a surge in sales of face masks in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, experts are divided over whether they can prevent transmission and infection. There is some evidence to suggest that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions, given the large number of times people touch their faces. The consensus appears to be that wearing a mask can limit – but not eliminate – the risks, provided it is used correctly.
Governments have scrambled to promise help for companies and households affected by the epidemic, offering to extend credit to small businesses, postpone tax payment deadlines and pay compensation to people with childcare responsibilities or in self-isolation. Italy unveiled a €25bn rescue package on Wednesday.
In China, however, where the virus originated, officials have declared the epidemic “basically curbed”, reporting only 24 new cases on Wednesday. The country is more concerned about importing new cases: all of those reported on Wednesday in Beijing, which has imposed a 14-day quarantine on all foreign arrivals, came from outside the country, five from Italy and one from the US.
