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Italy cancels Venice carnival in bid to halt spread of virus Italy cancels Venice Carnival in bid to halt spread of virus
(about 3 hours later)
CODOGNO, Italy — Scrambling to contain rapidly rising number of new coronavirus infections in Italy, the largest amount outside Asia, authorities on Sunday stepped up measures to ban public gatherings, including stopping Venice’s famed carnival events, which has drawn tens of thousands of revelers to a region that is now in the heart of the outbreak. CODOGNO, Italy — Italy stepped up measures Sunday to ban public gatherings amid rapidly rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the country and a third death from the virus, calling off the famed Venice Carnival attended by thousands of revelers.
“The ordinance is immediately operative and will go into effect at midnight,’’ announced Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia, whose area includes Venice. Carnival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors to the lagoon city, would have run through Tuesday. Buses, trains and other forms of public transport — including boats in Venice — were being disinfected, Zaia told reporters. The decision to call off the Carnival was announced by Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia as the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases soared to 152, the largest number outside Asia.
Authorities said three people in Venice have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, all of them in their late 80s and who are hospitalized in critical condition. “The ordinance is immediately operative and will go into effect at midnight,’’ said Zaia, whose area includes Venice, where thousands packed St. Mark’s Square. Carnival would have run through Tuesday.
Nearly all of Italy’s 133 cases are clustered in the north, at least 25 of them in the Veneto region. Buses, trains and other forms of public transport — including boats in Venice — were being disinfected, Zaia told reporters. Museums were also ordered to shut down after Sunday in Venice, a top tourist draw anytime of the year.
Authorities expressed frustration they haven’t been able to track down the source of the virus spread in the north, which surfaced last week when an Italian man in Codogno in his late 30s became critically ill. Authorities said three people in Venice have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, all of them in their late 80s and who are hospitalized in critical condition. Zaia said among those infected was a nurse.
“The health officials haven’t been yet able to pinpoint Patient Zero,’’ Angelo Borrelli, head of the national Civil Protection agency, told reporters in Rome. Nearly all of Italy’s 152 confirmed cases are clustered in the north, with 110 in Lombardy and others in the regions of Veneto, Emilia-Romagnia and Piedmont. Only two cases have been found in the south, a Chinese couple in Rome earlier this month.
At first, it was widely presumed that the man was infected by an Italian friend he dined with and who recently returned from his job, based in Shanghai. When the friend tested negative for the virus, attention turned to several Chinese who live in town and who frequent the same cafe visited by the stricken man. But Lombardy Gov. Attilio Fontana told reporters all of those Chinese have tested negative, too. The death on Sunday of an elderly woman, who was already suffering from cancer and who contracted the virus, raised the nation’s death toll to three, said Lombardy regional official Giulio Gallera. All three deaths occurred in the north.
In Lombardy, with 90 cases, so far the hardest-hit region, schools and universities were ordered to stay closed in the coming days, and sporting events were canceled. Lombardy’s ban on public events also extended to Masses in churches in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Authorities expressed frustration that they haven’t been able to track down the source of the virus spread in the north, which surfaced last week when an Italian man in Codogno, in his late 30s, became critically ill.
But in the south, thousands turned out in the port city of Bari for a Mass by visiting Pope Francis, who shook hands with the faithful during his public appearance. “The health officials haven’t been yet able to pinpoint ‘patient zero,’’ Angelo Borrelli, head of the national Civil Protection agency, told reporters in Rome.
At first, it was widely presumed that the man was infected by an Italian friend he dined with and who recently returned from his job, based in Shanghai. When the friend tested negative for the virus, attention turned to several Chinese who live in town and who frequent the same cafe visited by the stricken man. But Lombardy Gov. Attilio Fontana told reporters all of those Chinese have tested negative too.
So for now, Borrelli indicated, the strategy is to concentrate on closures and other restrictions to try to stem the spread in the country, which already had taken such measures early on in the global virus alarm, including banning direct flights from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Italy has also tested millions of airport passengers arriving from other places for any signs of fever.
In Lombardy, the hardest-hit region with 90 cases, schools and universities were ordered to stay closed in the coming days, and sporting events were canceled. Lombardy’s ban on public events also extended to Masses in churches in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation.
But while public Masses were forbidden in some towns in the hardest-hit areas, and later, by the Catholicpatriarch of Venice,thousands turned out in the southern port city of Bari for a Mass by visiting Pope Francis, who shook hands with the faithful during his public appearance. Among those shaking the pope’s hand in Bari was Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who came to Bari for the event.
Museums, schools, universities and other public venues will be shut as well in Venice and the rest of Veneto. The shutdown is expected to last at least through March 1.Museums, schools, universities and other public venues will be shut as well in Venice and the rest of Veneto. The shutdown is expected to last at least through March 1.
In Turin, the main city of the northern Piedmont region, three cases were diagnosed, and a family of three were being tested for possible contagion, authorities said. That region also announced closure of all schools and universities. In Turin, the main city of the northern Piedmont region, a least three cases were diagnosed. That region also announced the closure of all schools and universities.
The biggest jump in cases of confirmed COVID-19 was reported by authorities in Lombardy, a populous region which includes the country’s financial capital, Milan. Nearly all the cases were in the countryside, mainly in Codogno and neighboring towns, where only grocery stores and pharmacies were apparently allowed to stay open. The biggest jump in confirmed cases of COVID-19 was reported by authorities in Lombardy, a populous region which includes the country’s financial capital, Milan. Nearly all the cases were in the countryside, mainly in Codogno and nine neighboring towns, where only grocery stores and pharmacies were apparently allowed to stay open while other businesses were ordered shuttered and people — in theory at least — weren’t supposed to enter or leave the towns.
People were urged to stay indoors in Lombardy and Veneto. But while a lock-down of many small towns had been announced on Saturday, police at the entrance to Codogno, one of the hardest-hit towns, weren’t stopping cars entering or leaving . Melissa Catanacci, who lives on one of Codogno’s main roads, said that while entry points were open, others were closed.
Italians’ cherished Sunday routines – from soccer to church-going – were being touched by the spread of the contagion, almost entirely based in the north. Sports events in the affected northern areas, including local kids’ sports team practices to three Serie A (top major league) soccer matches, were canceled. Speaking by telephone from her home, she said she ventured outside for a stroll in the morning along with her husband and two children, ages 10 and 13.
“Every quarter-hour or so a car goes by” on the main road, she said. With businesses closed, the usual Sunday “passeggiata’’ — a leisurely stroll through local streets — didn’t last very long, she said. ”Nothing is open,” not even the town supermarket despite permission to do so, she said. “After a half hour, one turns around and goes back home.”
With school to stay shut through the week, her children were visiting other friends’ houses and vice versa, she said, to break the boredom.
Italians’ other cherished Sunday routines – from soccer to church-going – were being touched by the spread of the contagion, almost entirely based in the north. Sports events in the affected northern areas, from local children’s sports team practices to three Serie A soccer matches, were canceled following a long meeting Saturday night by the Italian government to decide infection-containing measures.
England’s chief medical officer says four Britons who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19. The four were among 32 U.K. and Irish nationals flown back to Britain on Saturday from the ship, which has been struck under quarantine in Japan. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Sunday that the four were being transferred to a specialist infection center and were believed to have contracted the virus aboard the ship.
Britain now has 13 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.
Italy’s explosion of infections was sparking concern elsewhere in Europe.
Austria’s top security official, Franz Lang, said that the country could activate border controls to Italy within one hour. Normally both countries are part of the visa and passport-free Schengen zone, but in specific situations, single countries can reactivate border controls. Lang said the situation would be discussed in meetings Monday, local Austrian media reported.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte on Saturday night said for now Italy wasn’t suspending Schengen zone rules.
In Switzerland, which like Austria borders Italy, there was a call for calm.
“The news from Italy is worrisome ... but it is too early to think that a wave is rolling our way,” Daniel Koch, the head of the department for contagious diseases at the heath office, told the SRF public broadcaster
German travelers returning from northern Italy were being asked to check the official German health advisories online regarding possible exposure to the virus. The German health ministry said it had initiated a phone conference for all European Union public health authorities about the outbreak in northern Italy on Monday.
Italy’s first cases — that of a married Chinese couple who were on vacation in Rome — surfaced in early February.Italy’s first cases — that of a married Chinese couple who were on vacation in Rome — surfaced in early February.
To date, two deaths — of elderly persons in the north — have been reported among the 133 cases. Bishops in several dioceses in northern Italy issued directives that holy water fonts be kept empty, that communion wafers be placed in the hands of the faithful and not directly into their mouths by priests celebrating Mass and that congregants refrain from shaking hands or exchanging kisses during the symbolic Sign of the Peace ritual.
In a coincidence, the Vatican official in charge of the office dealing with propagating the faith hails from Codogno. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, whose siblings live in the town, declined to dramatize the measures. “It’s obvious that we need to use all necessary prudence” to avoid spreading the virus among the faithful, he said.
Elsewhere in Europe, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that authorities were getting ready for a possible outbreak in France of the new virus. In an interview published Sunday in French newspaper Le Parisien, he said he was monitoring very closely the “very serious” situation, including in neighboring Italy.Elsewhere in Europe, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that authorities were getting ready for a possible outbreak in France of the new virus. In an interview published Sunday in French newspaper Le Parisien, he said he was monitoring very closely the “very serious” situation, including in neighboring Italy.
France reported earlier this month the first death outside Asia of a person infected with the virus, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist.France reported earlier this month the first death outside Asia of a person infected with the virus, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist.
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AP journalist Sylvie Corbet contributed from Paris. D’Emilio reported from Rome. Frances D’Emilio reported from Rome. AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Jill Lawless in London, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.