Rome, Monday

Italy banned travel and shut down a range of industries Monday in a last-ditch push to stem the spread of a coronavirus that has killed nearly 5,500 people in a month.

The latest wave of restrictions is designed to get the country through a vital 10-day stretch in which the rate of deaths and infections is supposed to finally drop.

Italy’s health officials sounded notes of guarded hope after reporting another 651 fatalities on Sunday.

The figure was lower than the record 793 deaths health officials announced on Saturday. The number of new infections also rose Sunday by a relatively modest 10.4 per cent.

The chief health officer of northern Italy’s devastated Lombardy region sounded uncharacteristically upbeat Sunday.

“These figures are always a matter of either seeing the glass as half full or half empty,” Giulio Gallera wrote on Facebook.

“Today, the glass is half full.”

The number of deaths around the world from coronavirus cases stood at 15,189 ,  with 341,300 confirmed cases according to a tally compiled by AFP.

In the US, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of National Guard troops in the three states hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

Troops will be used in New York, California and Washington to deliver medical aid and set up medical stations after the number of deaths nationwide rose to 471 and infections to 35,244.

Trump on Monday hinted strongly that he is running out of patience with the economic shutdown caused by mass quarantine measures against the coronavirus. 

“We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. At the end of the 15 day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go!” He wrote on Twitter.

Heed warnings

In Britain, the government sent in the army to deliver protective equipment to hospitals on Monday and told people to stay at home and heed warnings over social distancing or the government would bring in more extreme measures to stop the coronavirus spread.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock termed people who have ignored government advice aimed at tackling the pandemic are “very selfish”, adding that the government was willing to take “more action” if needed to stop the virus from spreading.

Italy has sacrificed its economy and liberties by shutting down and banning almost everything to halt the spread of a virus the government views as an existential threat.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte took the extra step late Saturday of announcing plans to close “non-essential” factories and trades until April 3.

Italians spent much of Sunday trying to figure out what exactly Conte meant.

The decrees published Monday added to the air of confusion in the face of a disease Conte on Saturday called Italy’s biggest threat since World War II.

They include a separate instruction forbidding Italians “from moving by public or private means of transport outside the municipality in which they are currently located”. 

This theoretically means that Italians cannot travel to their second homes at the weekend or visit out-of-town relatives.

The reality is that Conte’s team is slowly running out of things to close or ban—other than imposing a Chinese-style quarantine of cities and entire regions.

On a positive note, people in central China where the coronavirus was first detected are now allowed to go back to work and public transport is restarting, as some normality slowly returns after a two-month lockdown. 

The easing of restrictions in Wuhan city comes as Chinese health officials reported Monday no new local cases of the deadly virus, but confirmed another 39 infections brought from overseas.

South Korea also reported the lowest number of new cases since infection rates peaked four weeks ago.

On Monday, officials in Belgium said police had issued 288 penalty fines in 24 hours.

Those punished included couples eating in parks, people drinking beer outside cafes and bar owners refusing to close shop.

Authorities in France have deployed drones to enforce the strict lockdown rules. 

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Sunday a ban on all gatherings of more than two people who aren’t family.  -AFP and BBC