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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 — 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. CODOGNO, Italy — Italy scrambled Sunday to check the spread of the new viral disease amid rapidly rising numbers of infections in the country and a third death, calling off the Venice Carnival attended by thousands of revelers, scrapping major league soccer matches in the stricken area and shuttering theaters, including Milan’s legendary La Scala.
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. Also rising was concern in Europe, including by neighboring Austria, which dangled the specter of closing its border if the health emergency worsens.
The decision to call off Carnival was announced by Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia as the numbers of confirmed virus cases soared to 152, the largest number outside Asia.
“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.“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.
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. Road blocks were set up in at least some of 10 towns in Lombardy at the epicenter of the outbreak, including in Casalpusterlengo, to keep people from leaving or arriving. Even trains transiting the area weren’t allowed to stop.
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. 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, as well as in neighboring Lombardy, which, with at least 110 confirmed cases, is the epicenter of the viral outbreak.
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. Authorities said three people in Venice have tested positive for the viral disease known as COVID-19, all of them in their late 80s and who were hospitalized in critical condition.
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. Other northern regions with smaller numbers of cases are Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont.
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. Italy’s first two cases were a Chinese tourist couple, diagnosed earlier this month and reported recovering in a Rome hospital.
“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. The death on Sunday of an elderly woman, who was already suffering from cancer when she contracted the virus, raised the nation’s death toll to three, said Lombardy regional official Giulio Gallera.
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. Authorities expressed frustration that they haven’t been able to track down the source of the virus that is spreading in the north and which surfaced last week when an Italian man in his late 30s in Codogno became critically ill.
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. “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.
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. At first, it was widely presumed that the man was infected by an Italian friend he dined with and who had recently returned from his job, based in Shanghai. But when the friend tested negative for the virus attention turned to several Chinese residents who frequent the same cafe visited by the stricken man. But Lombardy Gov. Attilio Fontana told reporters they all tested negative too.
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. 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 measures early on in the global virus alarm that included 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.
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. “Worry is understandable, panic, no,’’ Premier Giuseppe Conte told a state TV interviewer.
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. Gallera told reporters in Milan that schools, museums, discos, pubs and theaters would stay closed for at least seven days. But restaurants in Milan and other Lombardy cities outside the main cluster area can still operate since, unlike at concerts and other entertainment venues, in eateries “people are not congregated in one place and there is space between tables,” Gallera said.
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. Lombardy’s ban on public events also extended to Masses in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Venice also was forbidding public Masses, while in Milan, the city’s iconic Gothic cathedral was closed to visitors. School trips inside Italy and overseas were banned.
Melissa Catanacci, who lives on one of Codogno’s main roads, said that while entry points were open, others were closed. But in the south, thousands turned out for a visit by Pope Francis in the port city of Bari. The pontiff shook hands with many of the faithful.
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. In Lombardy, a populous region which includes the country’s financial capital, Milan, nearly all the cases of COVID-19 were in the countryside, mainly in Codogno and nine neighboring towns. In those towns, only grocery stores and pharmacies were permitted to open, and people weren’t supposed to enter or leave the towns.
“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.” Melissa Catanacci, who lives on one of Codogno’s main roads, said in the morning, she ventured outside for a stroll along with her husband and two children, ages 10 and 13.
With school to stay shut through the week, her children were visiting other friends’ houses and vice versa, she said, to break the boredom. “Every quarter-hour or so a car goes by” on the main road, Catanacci said, speaking by telephone. With businesses closed, the usual Sunday “passeggiata’’ — a leisurely stroll through local streets — didn’t last very long, she said.
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. With school to stay shut through the week, her children were visiting their friends’ houses or inviting them over to hers to break the boredom, she said.
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. Sporting events were canceled, from children’s team practices to Serie A soccer matches which were to be played in northern stadiums. Those measures were ordered Saturday night by the Italian government.
Britain now has 13 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus. Dispensers of hand disinfectant were being installed in trains run by the state railways, which also said it was supplying its crews with masks and disposable gloves.
Italy’s explosion of infections was sparking concern elsewhere in Europe. Britain’s number of confirmed cases rose to 13, with the positive test results of four Britons who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which had been moored for days at a Japanese port when the ship was quarantined.
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. In Austria, security official Franz Lang said the country was consideringactivating border controls to Italy. Both nations are part of the European Union’s visa- and passport-free zone, but under certain circumstances individual countries can reactivate 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.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“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. 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. 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 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. Earlier this month, France reported 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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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. D’Emilio reported from Rome. Associated Press writers 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.