Southern Italy braced for ‘tsunami’ of new coronavirus patients
In Rome, newspapers said prime minister Giuseppe Conte was considering calling in the army to enforce restrictions after the death toll in his country overtook that of China.
Soldiers have already been deployed in Sicily and Calabria. Hospitals elsewhere in the country’s south, including tourist centre Puglia, warned that they lacked the facilities of their counterparts in the wealthier north — which has so far borne the brunt of the virus — and would struggle to cope if the disease takes a tighter hold.
Giuseppe Craparo, a doctor in Palermo, said hospitals in the south were bracing themselves for a “massive tsunami” of coronavirus patients. “We live in a state of perpetual anticipation, tension and fear,” he said. “Our goal is to attempt to spread the number of cases over time.”
Meanwhile officials in the north were reported to be preparing tougher action to control the virus, with the Lombardy region around Milan considering restricting the types of businesses allowed to operate. A ban on outdoor activities and an extension of school and university closures beyond the end of the academic year were also said to be under consideration.
The intensifying action follows another rise in Italy’s death toll, taking it to 3,405, putting it beyond China as the country with most fatalities.
The escalating problems in Italy came as it emerged that people caught on the streets of France during the country’s lockdown are being put in police custody for “endangering lives”.
The dramatic development came as complaints against aggressive police making arrests mount, especially in ethnic minority communities. Officers have been instructed to hand out spot fines of £128 to anyone caught without the right documentation for being out of their homes. But a legal source in Paris today said “at least five people who refused to respect confinement were placed in police custody on Thursday”.
The source said four were in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, north of Paris, while the fifth was in the northern Pas-de-Calais. All face a charge of “endangering the lives of others”, punishable with up to a year’s jail and a £14,000 fine.
Those arrested are repeat offenders who continually remain on the street despite being ordered home, according to another judicial source.
Police have faced growing criticism for allegedly rough handling people in the crisis. One film on Twitter appeared to show a young woman being pushed to the ground by officers and a man being punched. Officials said 18,000 people had been issued with police warnings, as President Emmanuel Macron said “too many people are taking instructions too lightly”.
Elsewhere, Slovenia has banned socialising in public places, Portugal has declared a state of emergency that its prime minister has said could be extended for months, and deaths in Spain rose by 28 per cent yesterday to 767.