Italy extended coronavirus travel restrictions previously limited to the country’s north to the whole country on Tuesday, with soldiers and police enforcing bans.
Some 9,172 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Italy, with 463 deaths, and there is a growing sense that the numbers will only worsen.
“We’re only at the beginning,” said Dr Massimo Galli, head of infectious disease at Sacco Hospital in Milan, where people at the city’s main railway station were required to sign forms certifying the necessity of their travel.
However, the Italian government assured its citizens that supermarkets will remain open and stocked after panic buying erupted after the broadened anti-virus measures were announced nationwide, sparking overnight runs on 24-hour markets.
