Northern Italy is placed in isolation

Northern Italy is placed in isolation

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norman lebrecht

March 08, 2020

The Italian Government has declared a virtual ghetto in the northern part of the country, with entry and exit being tightly controlled and internal movements regulated to clamp down on the alarming spread of Coronavirus.

Milan and Venice are affected.

People in Lombardy and 14 provinces will require official permits before they can travel.

All public performances have been cancelled.

The measures apply until April.

They are thought to be the most severe peacetime controls applied anywhere in western Europe since 1945.

 

Comments

  • Tamino says:

    Nothing can stop the spread of the new virus. Experts estimate about 70% of the global population will get it sooner or later.
    What is happening now is only about moderating the speed of the outbreak, so health services can cope with it.
    And that they have trouble coping again is a consequence of a global insecurity about the risk, causing government agencies to issue recommendations that err on the cautious side. Like putting infected people into isolation.
    It’s an avalanche of overly cautious risk management.

    After what we know by now, the virus is most likely as harmless to most people as the regular flu, possibly somewhat more deadly, but not by much.
    The hysteria right now is from the element of novelty, the unknown.
    But any serious expert admits, that there must be a very large number of unreported cases with no or only mild symptoms.
    So only after knowing the actual infection rates better in a few months, we will know the actual mortality rates.

    • Bill says:

      The big difference is, there are vaccines for the flu, so many people who might otherwise die from the flu don’t even get it to begin with. If you are correct in that the death rate is slightly higher than the flu, that is not a good place to be if there is no vaccine available.

    • Bandoneón says:

      Are you a doctor….a virologist….?

    • Larry D says:

      “Harmless…possibly somewhat more deadly.” How can something harmless be at the same time more or less deadly?

    • Anon says:

      Actually, new cases in China will soon drop to 0. Check the stats, day after day it gets lower and lower.

  • Luca says:

    Have you worked out the average numbers of deaths on the roads, not to speak of the maimed for life, per day in Italy, France or even the UK? No one would ever leave the house if they did.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Don’t worry; there are boatloads heading across the Mediterranean towards Europe; they have no travel restrictions.

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