Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called on all Italians on Monday evening to “avoid displacement“on national territory to stem the epidemic of coronavirus, and ordered a”assembly ban“.
“I am going to sign a decree which can be summarized as follows: ‘I stay at home’. There will no longer be a ‘red zone on the peninsula’ (…) The whole of Italy will become a protected zone“, he affirmed in a serious tone during a press briefing at the seat of the government.
“Our habits have to change now“
“There is no more time to lose. The figures tell us that we have a significant increase in cases of contagion, people hospitalized in intensive care and unfortunately also people who have died. We have to change our habits. They have to change now“, he warned.
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That is why “I decided to immediately take even tougher, stronger measures“, he continued.
These new draconian measures, the implementation of which the Prime Minister has not specified, will be detailed in a decree which will enter into force on Tuesday throughout Italy, second most affected country after China with more than 9000 cases including 463 deaths.
But “guarantee continuity“of economic activity
However, these measures do not provide “limit public transport in order to guarantee continuity“economic activity”and allow people to go to work“, said the Prime Minister.
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Initially scheduled until March 15, the closure of schools and universities will remain in effect until April 3, he said.
The Italian official also ordered the suspension of the football championship.
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