Places in Northern Italy including Milan and Venice are ordered for obligatory quarantine as officials struggle to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the New York Times reports.
Italy's prime minister released a statement that at least 16 million people will be affected.
“We are facing an emergency,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Sunday in an early-morning press conference. The restrictions on travel throughout the region, which includes some 16 million people, are “very rigorous,” Conte added, but necessary. “This is the moment of self-responsibility,” he said.
The lock-down will last until at least early April, the BBC reported. Anyone living in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces will need special permission to travel.
People are instructed to stay indoors as much as possible and those who will violate could face jail time. The Prime Minister also announced the closure of schools, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country.
“Police, emergency services and if needed the army will be available to enforce the quarantine. People violating the lockdown can be punished with a fine or jail terms, according to the draft decree,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Italy has seen the largest number of coronavirus cases, with a total to 5,883 as of Saturday. The Wall Street Journal reports 233 people have died from COVID-19 in Italy.
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