03 May 2024,   15:26
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Italy orders complete lockdown to fight coronavirus - coronavirus death toll has jumped by 97 to 463

Italy’s coronavirus death toll has jumped by 97 to 463, as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the outbreak as the country’s “darkest hour”.

Italy is the worst-hit country after China, with cases of the virus confirmed in all 20 Italian regions. Travel restrictions are being imposed across Italy nationwide as the whole country goes into lockdown to try to halt the spread of the new coronavirus.

Countries’ government has pledged to further increase spending to offset the economic impact of the outbreak as the country struggles to adapt to the most restrictive limits on movement since World War Two.

Up to 16 million people in northern Italy now need permission to travel under quarantine rules.

In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper on Monday, Conte said: “These days, I have been thinking about the old speeches of [Winston] Churchill - it is our darkest hour but we will make it”.

The head of the World Health Organization warned the threat of a global coronavirus pandemic was “very real” as the contagion continued its rapid spread around the world. 

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