Streets deserted as Italy imposes unprecedented coronavirus lockdown - Reuters

ROME (Reuters) - Italy woke up on to deserted streets in an unprecedented lockdown on Tuesday after the government extended quarantine measures across the entire country in a bid to slow Europe’s worst outbreak of the coronavirus.

The measures, announced late on Monday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, widen steps already taken in the rich northern region of Lombardy and parts of neighboring provinces, clamping down on movement and closing public spaces.

“The future of Italy is in our hands. Let us all do our part, by giving up something for our collective good,” Conte said in a tweet, encouraging people to take personal responsibility.

For at least the next three weeks, people have been told to move around only for reasons of work, for health needs or emergencies or else stay at home. Anyone traveling will have to fill in a document declaring their reasons and carry it with them.

Large gatherings and outdoor events, including sports, have been banned, while bars and restaurants will have to close from 6 p.m. Schools and universities will remain closed until April 3.

“The whole of Italy is closed now,” was the headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

As day broke, the streets of Rome were eerily much quieter than normal, with cars circulating freely under a clear blue sky in the normally traffic-clogged center, reflecting the atmosphere in the financial capital Milan, already under stricter controls.

Rome commuters could easily find seats in the usually jam-packed underground system during the morning rush hours.

People wearing masks in the streets of the capital was more widespread than before.

Shortly after the measures were announced, shoppers in Rome rushed to late-night supermarkets to stock up on food and basic necessities, promoting the government to declare that supplies would be guaranteed and urging people not to panic buy.

Shops are allowed to remain open as long as customers maintain a minimum distance of a meter between them.

The measures came after the latest data showed the coronavirus outbreak continuing to rise, with 9,172 positive cases recorded as of Monday and 463 deaths, the second highest-level in the world after China.

Slideshow (10 Images)

The World Health Organization has praised Italy’s “aggressive” response to the crisis, since the first cases emerged near Milan almost three weeks ago but the economic cost has been huge.

On Monday, the Milan stock exchange dropped over 11% and Italy’s borrowing costs shot up, reviving fears that an economy already on the brink of recession and struggling under the euro zone’s second-heaviest debt pile could be plunged into crisis.

Conte has already promised “massive shock therapy” to help deal with the immediate economic impact of the crisis and on Tuesday, Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli said the government would approve measures worth around 10 billion euros.

Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-10 12:00:42Z
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Italy wakes up to deserted streets in unprecedented coronavirus lockdown - Reuters

ROME (Reuters) - Italy woke up on to deserted streets in an unprecedented lockdown on Tuesday after the government extended quarantine measures across the entire country in a bid to slow Europe’s worst outbreak of the coronavirus.

The measures, announced late on Monday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, widen steps already taken in the rich northern region of Lombardy and parts of neighboring provinces, clamping down on movement and closing public spaces.

“The future of Italy is in our hands. Let us all do our part, by giving up something for our collective good,” Conte said in a tweet, encouraging people to take personal responsibility.

For at least the next three weeks, people have been told to move around only for reasons of work, for health needs or emergencies or else stay at home. Anyone traveling will have to fill in a document declaring their reasons and carry it with them.

Large gatherings and outdoor events, including sports, have been banned, while bars and restaurants will have to close from 6 p.m. Schools and universities will remain closed until April 3.

“The whole of Italy is closed now,” was the headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

As day broke, the streets of Rome were eerily much quieter than normal, with cars circulating freely under a clear blue sky in the normally traffic-clogged center, reflecting the atmosphere in the financial capital Milan, already under stricter controls.

Rome commuters could easily find seats in the usually jam-packed underground system during the morning rush hours.

People wearing masks in the streets of the capital was more widespread than before.

Shortly after the measures were announced, shoppers in Rome rushed to late-night supermarkets to stock up on food and basic necessities, promoting the government to declare that supplies would be guaranteed and urging people not to panic buy.

Shops are allowed to remain open as long as customers maintain a minimum distance of a meter between them.

The measures came after the latest data showed the coronavirus outbreak continuing to rise, with 9,172 positive cases recorded as of Monday and 463 deaths, the second highest-level in the world after China.

Slideshow (10 Images)

The World Health Organization has praised Italy’s “aggressive” response to the crisis, since the first cases emerged near Milan almost three weeks ago but the economic cost has been huge.

On Monday, the Milan stock exchange dropped over 11% and Italy’s borrowing costs shot up, reviving fears that an economy already on the brink of recession and struggling under the euro zone’s second-heaviest debt pile could be plunged into crisis.

Conte has already promised “massive shock therapy” to help deal with the immediate economic impact of the crisis and on Tuesday, Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli said the government would approve measures worth around 10 billion euros.

Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-03-10 11:05:39Z
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US begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan - Fox News

The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Tuesday, taking a step forward on its peace deal with the Taliban while also praising Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners after he had delayed for over a week.

The U.S.-Taliban deal signed on Feb. 29 was touted as Washington’s effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan. The next crucial step was to be intra-Afghan talks in which all factions including the Taliban would negotiate a road map for their country’s future.

But Ghani and his main political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday. Abdallah and the elections complaints commission had charged fraud in last year’s vote. The dueling inaugurations have thrown plans for talks with the Taliban into chaos, although Ghani said Tuesday that he’d start putting together a negotiating team.

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The disarray on the Afghan government side is indicative of the uphill task facing Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad as he tries to get Afghanistan’s bickering leadership to come together. In an early Tuesday tweet, Khalilzad said he hoped the two leaders can “come to an agreement on an inclusive and broadly accepted government. We will continue to assist.”

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2020-03-10 08:49:36Z
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Coronavirus sparks total lockdown in Italy and alarm in the US as cases rise globally - CNN

The virus, known as Covid-19, has now infected close to 113,000 people worldwide and resulted in more than 4,000 deaths. The majority of these cases are in mainland China, where the outbreak first emerged -- but the rate of infection has been slowing in the country, and the situation stabilizing, even as the virus wreaks havoc elsewhere

In an apparent show of confidence, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in virus-stricken Wuhan Tuesday, his first visit to the city at the epicenter of the global outbreak since the crisis began. The trip comes as Chinese authorities recorded 19 new cases, 17 of which were in Wuhan, and two were imported from overseas -- marking the third straight day of no locally transmitted cases outside Hubei, the province of which Wuhan is the capital. Of the country's 80,754 patients, nearly 60,000 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Other Asian countries like South Korea are also beginning to see a slowdown in the virus' spread. South Korea, which has carried out more than 190,000 tests as part of a free nationwide screening program, recorded it's lowest number of daily confirmed cases of the virus in weeks on Tuesday -- a sign that the country may has "passed the peak" of the outbreak, South Korean Health Minister Park Neunghoo told CNN.

But these cautious signs of progress throw into sharp relief the deteriorating situation in the West.

States across the US are declaring emergencies, with even congressmen being self-quarantined after exposure to a patient. And in Europe, the outbreak that began in Italy has spread far and wide, with nearby countries like Germany reporting dramatic spikes in daily cases.

All of Italy is under lockdown

In an unprecedented and potentially legally fraught move, all of Italy and its 60 million residents have been placed under lockdown, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Monday, part of a raft of sweeping quarantine measures intended to contain the outbreak.

The northern region of Lombardy and 14 other provinces had already been placed under lockdown -- but this new decree will extend those restrictions across the entire country, as the virus continues to spread throughout Italy and mainland Europe.

The drastic measures include blanket travel restrictions, a ban on all public events, the closures of schools and public spaces such as movie theaters, and the suspension of religious services including funerals or weddings.

To enforce the movement ban, military police, railway police, and health workers are carrying out checks on transportation sites like highways and train stations.

This lockdown represents the toughest coronavirus response to be implemented outside of mainland China, and comes as the country buckles under the weight of the epidemic.

Parts of Italy, particularly the northern regions, are seeing a "tsunami of patients," and the healthcare system is "one step from collapse," said Antonio Pesenti, intensive care coordinator in the Lombardy crisis unit.

So far, Italy has 9,172 cases and 463 deaths -- the most of any country outside of China.

The new lockdown may help slow the virus from spreading further -- but some, like the Lombardy president, fear it is "still insufficient" given the sheer scale and speed of the Italian outbreak.

The virus spreads across the US

The virus is rapidly spreading across the United States too, with new cases reported in at least 20 states on Monday.

The country now has 717 confirmed and presumptive positive cases and 26 deaths, spread out across 36 states and the capital, Washington, DC.

Washington state has been the hardest hit; 22 of the country's 26 deaths were in Washington, which has 180 cases. At least 10 states, including Washington, have declared states of emergency, which give state governments access to emergency funds and powers.

But there are signs of growing frustrations with the federal government's handling of the outbreak. On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing delays, and earlier this month, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee criticized the Trump administration for not sticking "to the science."

In some ways the friction began as early as February, when new federal travel restrictions ruffled state and local officials, who complained the rollout had been opaque and confusing. But these tensions are only ramping up now as the virus threatens to disrupt people's lives and livelihoods.

Multiple schools in Washington have already moved to online learning. Many large colleges like Columbia University, New York University, Stanford, and the University of Southern California are also beginning to hold classes remotely instead of in person.

And employers like Amazon and Boeing have begun asking employees in virus-hit areas to work from home, in an echo of the same measures rolled out across Asia just a month or two ago.

Markets are slowly recovering from Monday's crash

Coronavirus fears and an oil price war sparked a global panic on Monday, with markets entering into stunning decline.

Oil prices collapsed after Saudi Arabia launched a price war against onetime ally Russia -- and the crisis was only worsened by the coronavirus, which has slammed economies worldwide and weighed heavily on investors.

Wall Street had already faced heavy losses for several weeks because of the virus; the oil price war served a second blow, and the Dow ended the day with its biggest point drop in history, closing Monday down 2,014 points, or 7.8%.

On Tuesday, markets in Asia Pacific mostly stumbled, with South Korea's Kospi, China's Shanghai Composite, and Japan's Nikkei 225 all falling, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index swung between gains and losses.

There are some signs of recovery, with Dow futures jumping 500 points, or 2.2%, and Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was trading firmly in the green.

But the virus may prove harder to recover from; about $9 trillion was wiped off global stocks in nine days, Bank of America said in a research note on Thursday. And markets are still seeing wild swings, indicative of just how deep investor anxieties run.

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2020-03-10 09:11:00Z
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Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Wuhan for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak - CNBC

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, chairs a symposium at the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2020.

Yan Yan | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Wuhan city on Tuesday morning to inspect new coronavirus control efforts, according to state news broadcaster CCTV. 

The visit marks the latest step in the leader's public turnaround on involvement in fighting the disease, which has killed more than 3,100 people in the country after emerging in Wuhan in late December. Officially called COVID-19, the disease has now hit more than 100 countries including the U.S. and several in Europe. Fears of the virus' impact to worldwide economic growth have sent global markets reeling.

While the spread of the virus accelerated in January, Xi took a relatively low-key stance and first addressed the disease publicly in a Jan. 20 statement carried by state media that called for "resolute efforts" in fighting the virus. Instead, his second-in-command Li Keqiang is leading a national-level virus prevention and control leading group, and visited Wuhan on Jan. 27, more than a month ago.

I always felt that the number one signal for the Chinese government having enough confidence to declare this as the end would be when President Xi goes to Wuhan.

Mark Matthews

Bank Julius Baer

Xi began to take a more prominent public role in fighting the virus in mid-February. Notably, on Feb. 15, the Communist Party journal "Qiushi" published a Feb. 3 speech in which the president claimed to have known about the disease as early as Jan. 7.

Since then, Xi's public statements and appearances at virus-prevention sites have only increased. The Chinese leader has emphasized the need to balance preventing the spread of the disease with supporting the economy, which has struggled to resume normal activity due to lockdowns and other efforts to limit the highly contagious virus' spread.

State media such as People's Daily, China's official newspaper for the Communist Party, showed videos of Xi's visit to Wuhan on Tuesday.

"(Xi) will use the episode to underpin his personal authority," Tom Rafferty, Principal Economist, China, The Economist Intelligence Unit, said in an email. 

"China will also extol its approach controlling the coronavirus as a model for other countries currently in the early stages of outbreaks," Rafferty said. "We expect it to offer direct assistance to containment efforts elsewhere, especially in Belt and Road Initiative countries."

There are more and more imported cases into China, and therefore the spreading of coronavirus from imported cases ... So I am not that optimistic.

Iris Pang

chief economist for Greater China, ING

Xi's visit to Wuhan comes as the number of new confirmed cases, mostly in the city or other parts of the surrounding Hubei province, has dwindled to below 50 a day. State media reported Sunday that 11 of 14 makeshift hospitals in Wuhan for treatment of the new coronavirus have closed. 

"I always felt that the number one signal for the Chinese government having enough confidence to declare this as the end would be when President Xi goes to Wuhan," Mark Matthews, managing director and head of research Asia at Bank Julius Baer, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia."

"So the fact that you see he's there I think is extremely important for the economy and for the market," Matthews said. 

Major mainland Chinese stock indexes jumped more than 1% as markets reopened for the Tuesday afternoon trading session.

Iris Pang, chief economist for Greater China at ING, was more cautious about calling an end to the spread of the disease in the country.

"There are more and more imported cases into China, and therefore the spreading of coronavirus from imported cases. And also, the (return of workers to the) office and also factories might also create another wave of coronavirus cases in China," she told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Tuesday. "So I am not that optimistic."

— CNBC's Yen Nee Lee and Abigail Ng contributed to this report.

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2020-03-10 08:36:11Z
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All of Italy on lockdown over coronavirus outbreak - CNN

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. All of Italy on lockdown over coronavirus outbreak  CNN
2. Italy expands its quarantine to the entire country as coronavirus cases and deaths surge  CNBC
3. Live updates: Coronavirus lockdown begins in Italy; China touts containment success as Xi visits Wuhan  The Washington Post
4. This Is Life Under Lockdown in Italy  The New York Times
5. All of Italy is now on lockdown due to coronavirus  CNN
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-03-10 07:34:11Z
52780651267701

Coronavirus sparks total lockdown in Italy and alarm in the US as cases rise globally - CNN

The virus, known as Covid-19, has now infected close to 113,000 people worldwide and resulted in more than 4,000 deaths. The majority of these cases are in mainland China, where the outbreak first emerged -- but the rate of infection has been slowing in the country, and the situation stabilizing, even as the virus wreaks havoc elsewhere

In an apparent show of confidence, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in virus-stricken Wuhan Tuesday, his first visit to the city at the epicenter of the global outbreak since the crisis began. The trip comes as Chinese authorities recorded 19 new cases, 17 of which were in Wuhan, and two were imported from overseas -- marking the third straight day of no locally transmitted cases outside Hubei, the province of which Wuhan is the capital. Of the country's 80,754 patients, nearly 60,000 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Other Asian countries like South Korea are also beginning to see a slowdown in the virus' spread. South Korea, which has carried out more than 190,000 tests as part of a free nationwide screening program, recorded it's lowest number of daily confirmed cases of the virus in weeks on Tuesday -- a sign that the country may has "passed the peak" of the outbreak, South Korean Health Minister Park Neunghoo told CNN.

But these cautious signs of progress throw into sharp relief the deteriorating situation in the West.

States across the US are declaring emergencies, with even congressmen being self-quarantined after exposure to a patient. And in Europe, the outbreak that began in Italy has spread far and wide, with nearby countries like Germany reporting dramatic spikes in daily cases.

All of Italy is under lockdown

In an unprecedented and potentially legally fraught move, all of Italy and its 60 million residents have been placed under lockdown, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Monday, part of a raft of sweeping quarantine measures intended to contain the outbreak.

The northern region of Lombardy and 14 other provinces had already been placed under lockdown -- but this new decree will extend those restrictions across the entire country, as the virus continues to spread throughout Italy and mainland Europe.

The drastic measures include blanket travel restrictions, a ban on all public events, the closures of schools and public spaces such as movie theaters, and the suspension of religious services including funerals or weddings.

To enforce the movement ban, military police, railway police, and health workers are carrying out checks on transportation sites like highways and train stations.

This lockdown represents the toughest coronavirus response to be implemented outside of mainland China, and comes as the country buckles under the weight of the epidemic.

Parts of Italy, particularly the northern regions, are seeing a "tsunami of patients," and the healthcare system is "one step from collapse," said Antonio Pesenti, intensive care coordinator in the Lombardy crisis unit.

So far, Italy has 9,172 cases and 463 deaths -- the most of any country outside of China.

The new lockdown may help slow the virus from spreading further -- but some, like the Lombardy president, fear it is "still insufficient" given the sheer scale and speed of the Italian outbreak.

The virus spreads across the US

The virus is rapidly spreading across the United States too, with new cases reported in at least 20 states on Monday.

The country now has 717 confirmed and presumptive positive cases and 26 deaths, spread out across 36 states and the capital, Washington, DC.

Washington state has been the hardest hit; 22 of the country's 26 deaths were in Washington, which has 180 cases. At least 10 states, including Washington, have declared states of emergency, which give state governments access to emergency funds and powers.

But there are signs of growing frustrations with the federal government's handling of the outbreak. On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing delays, and earlier this month, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee criticized the Trump administration for not sticking "to the science."

In some ways the friction began as early as February, when new federal travel restrictions ruffled state and local officials, who complained the rollout had been opaque and confusing. But these tensions are only ramping up now as the virus threatens to disrupt people's lives and livelihoods.

Multiple schools in Washington have already moved to online learning. Many large colleges like Columbia University, New York University, Stanford, and the University of Southern California are also beginning to hold classes remotely instead of in person.

And employers like Amazon and Boeing have begun asking employees in virus-hit areas to work from home, in an echo of the same measures rolled out across Asia just a month or two ago.

Markets are slowly recovering from Monday's crash

Coronavirus fears and an oil price war sparked a global panic on Monday, with markets entering into stunning decline.

Oil prices collapsed after Saudi Arabia launched a price war against onetime ally Russia -- and the crisis was only worsened by the coronavirus, which has slammed economies worldwide and weighed heavily on investors.

Wall Street had already faced heavy losses for several weeks because of the virus; the oil price war served a second blow, and the Dow ended the day with its biggest point drop in history, closing Monday down 2,014 points, or 7.8%.

On Tuesday, markets in Asia Pacific mostly stumbled, with South Korea's Kospi, China's Shanghai Composite, and Japan's Nikkei 225 all falling, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index swung between gains and losses.

There are some signs of recovery, with Dow futures jumping 500 points, or 2.2%, and Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was trading firmly in the green.

But the virus may prove harder to recover from; about $9 trillion was wiped off global stocks in nine days, Bank of America said in a research note on Thursday. And markets are still seeing wild swings, indicative of just how deep investor anxieties run.

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2020-03-10 07:12:58Z
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