By AFPMore by this AuthorTravel was restricted across Italy from Tuesday and public gatherings were forbidden throughout the country, as the government placed the whole peninsula on lockdown to fight the spread of the new coronavirus. AdvertisementThe measures extend a quarantine zone that Italy had imposed for its industrial northern heartland around the cities of Milan and Venice on Sunday. Religious institutions will also stay open as long as people can keep the same distance from each other -- but ceremonies such as marriages, baptisms and funerals are banned until April 3. SUPERMARKETS PACKEDAs of Monday night, an AFP count showed Italy had recorded more than half of the deaths reported outside China. But the expansion of the northern restrictions to the rest of the country just a day later suggests the government is struggling to cope with the scale of the medical emergency.

Source: Daily Nation March 10, 2020 02:37 UTC