Italy on Lockdown to Curb Coronavirus Spread

Italy ordered the closure of all businesses, with the exception of pharmacies and supermarkets, on Wednesday after expanding its lockdown to the entire nation to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

The country restricted the movements of more than 60 million people as it attempts to contain the disease, per the New York Times. The controls placed on the northern region earlier this month have now become a blanket restriction on nonessential movement across the country.

More than 9,000 people in Italy have caught the virus and there have been almost 500 deaths, the majority being the sick and elderly. 

Italian schools will remain closed until April 3 and citizens will require permission to travel within or out of the country for work, health or extenuating situations. Sporting and outdoor events are now banned and the 6 p.m. curfew on bars has been extended from northern Italy to the entire country.  

Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, noted that the citizens “all have to renounce something for the good of Italy,” per the Times.