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Italy's Coronavirus Cases Jump 50% in One Day

Jamie Dettmer

   ROME - The Italian government is ramping up public health measures in a
   bid to halt the abrupt spike in Coronavirus infections, which rose by
   50% Sunday from 24 hours earlier, the biggest one day jump in cases
   since the virus emerged in Italy.

   Italy's Civil Protection Authority reported the country has 1,694
   confirmed cases, up from 1,128, despite a weeks-long lockdown of a
   dozen towns in the worst affected regions of Lombardy and Veneto in the
   north of the country. Five more people infected with COVID-19 have
   died, bringing the deaths from the virus in Italy to 34, while 83
   people have fully recovered, officials say, and 140 are in serious or
   critical condition.

   Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Sunday that the government is
   now going to split the country into three parts, a red zone in the
   north, covering the currently closed-off towns in Lombardy and Veneto,
   and then a yellow zone, covering the rest of Lombardy and Veneto, as
   well as the region of Emilia Romagna and two provinces on the Adriatic
   coast.

   In the yellow zone all sports events and competitions are to be
   suspended and cinemas, theaters and discos closed. Churches and other
   places of worship will be allowed to function but will be required to
   minimize the numbers of attendees. Schools will remain closed. Bars and
   restaurants will be allowed to carry on business but customers must be
   seated with tables set apart from each other by at least one meter.

   Under the terms of the decree issued by the government Sunday, large
   shopping malls in some provinces must remain closed on weekends. All
   educational trips are to be suspended until March 15.

   In the rest of the country the government's focus is on intensifying
   preventive measures. Hand-sanitizers must be made available in all
   public buildings and town mayors must promote information on hygiene in
   business premises.

   "Public transport companies will take extraordinary sanitization
   measures," the decree states.

   The spiking numbers are likely to fuel a growing fear in Italy that the
   virus might not be containable. Last week when there were only 374
   confirmed cases, the prime minister urged his countrymen to remain calm
   as more Italians joined in bouts of panic food shopping, especially in
   the north and center of the country.

   Italy's president, Sergio Mattarella, also warned Italians Friday
   against allowing "irrational fears" to take hold of them.

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