ROME: Tens of thousands of Italians prepared for a weeks-long quarantine in the country’s north on Sunday as nerves began to fray among the locals faced with new lockdown measures.
Two people have died from the virus since Friday and more than a hundred cases have now been reported in Italy, most of them centred around the small town of Codogno, about 70 kilometres southeast of Milan.
Over 50,000 residents in eleven towns — 10 in Lombardy and one in the neighbouring region of Veneto — now face what Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday could be weeks of lockdown. Locals wearing face masks were already lined up outside a supermarket in the town of Casalpusterlengo, a 10 minute drive from Codogno, on Sunday morning.
Shoppers were made to wait, then allowed to enter in groups of 40 inside the store to stock up on provisions.
Although one woman in the crowd downplayed the virus, telling other shoppers it was “not fatal” if properly treated, others were less sanguine.
“It’s inhuman,” said one man who gave his name as Sante. “Fighting over four sandwiches is just disgusting.”
Another woman, Emanuela, told AFP-TV that residents including her were nervous.
“I’m really scared, we’re going through a really tough situation,” said the woman, a nurse who works in the area.
It was not clear how authorities would impose the travel restrictions and whether residents would still be allowed to travel from town to town within the affected zones, without surpassing an outer limit.