08/03/2020

Italy is trying to contain coronavirus by placing up to 16 million people under quarantine. Anyone living in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces, will need special permission to travel. Those provinces include Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro and Urbino, Alessandria, Asti, Novara, Verbano Cusio Ossola, Vercelli, Padua, Treviso and Venice.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the whole country until 3 April.

The death toll in Italy has passed 230, with officials reporting more than 36 deaths in 24 hours. The number of confirmed cases jumped by 1,200 to 5,883 on Saturday.

"We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big," Mr Conte said early on Sunday.

Until now only around 50,000 people in northern Italy had been affected by quarantine measures.

Among other countries to report a rise in the total number of cases are: France (to 949); Germany (795); Spain (441); the UK (209); the Netherlands (188).

Colombia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Malta, the Maldives and Paraguay have all reported their first cases.