Italy enters its first day under a nationwide lockdown after a decree signed late Monday by Premier Giuseppe Conte extended restrictions on movement from hard-hit northern regions to the rest of the country. Panic buying erupted, prompting the government to assure citizens that supermarkets will remain open and stocked. Conte’s office said runs on supermarkets went counter to the intent of the new decree, which aims to prevent Italians from congregating. The ban on travel is being enforced by soldiers and police.
Italy’s travel restrictions are to last through April 3 and violators risk up to three months in jail or fines of €206 ($320).
Italian Civil Protection Authorities said the number of infections in the country has topped the 10,000 mark, hitting 10,149, and the number of people with the virus who have died rose to 631, from 463 a day earlier. That’s more cases than anywhere but China.
Patient No. 1 is considered to be the first Italian to have contracted the coronavirus. The 38-year-old man was recently moved out of intensive care after testing positive for COVID-19 on February 21.
AIRLINES
Air Canada is suspending flights to and from Italy, with its last flight to Rome scheduled to take off from Toronto Tuesday, with the final return flight departing Rome for Montreal on Wednesday. The airline plans to restart service on May 1, and affected customers will be notified and offered full refunds.
British Airways said Tuesday, it cancelled all flights to Italy and could not confirm the status of future flights.
Air France is reducing its traffic to Italy by half for all of March, and suspending flights to Hong Kong and Taipei until March 29. Air France has cancelled 3,600 flights this month.
Ryanair, Europe’s busiest airline, cancelled all international flights to and from Italy from Saturday until April 9. The carrier said passengers currently in Italy could fly home on one of the flights operating up to Friday night.
GLOBAL REACTION
Spain’s Cabinet has banned direct flights between Italy and Spanish airports. Routes between Spain and Italy amount to 9% of all Spanish international air traffic. Some 16 million passengers took flights between the two countries last year.
Malta announced a ban on air traffic from Italy, having recently turned away another cruise ship.
Austria barred travellers from crossing the border without a medical certificate and will be barring most travellers from Italy from entering the country.
Britain, Ireland, Hong Kong and Germany strengthened travel advisories or flat-out urged their citizens to leave. Even the Vatican erected a new barricade at the edge of St. Peter’s Square.
Slovenia‘s acting prime minister says he has ordered the closure of the border with Italy, but this does not apply for freight transport.
Israel has decided to quarantine all visitors from Italy.
FALLOUT
El Salvador‘s government says Guatemalans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans will no longer be able to enter the country without a passport due to fears of the new coronavirus, even though there are no confirmed coronavirus in these countries. This is despite an agreement by four Central American nations allowing their citizens free transit.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said the decision was spurred by Salvadorans trying to avoid government quarantines by flying into Guatemala from overseas and then travelling overland to El Salvador, where they would not have to show their passports.
STOCKS STEADY AFTER PLUNGE
Global stock markets rebounded and oil prices recovered some after a torrid day on Monday.
On Tuesday, US stocks, oil and other financial markets around the world clawed back some ground on hopes that the US and other governments will pump in more aid for the virus-weakened global economy.
But market watchers say investors are likely to see more big swings until the number of infections decelerates, and fear was still rampant that economies stood at the brink of recession.