Police are patrolling the perimeters of northern Italian towns as the country's government put tens of thousands of people in lockdown, in an attempt to halt Europe's worst outbreak of the coronavirus.
In Italy more than 50,000 people in 11 towns have been ordered not to leave their areas, most of them centred around the small town of Codogno, about 70 kilometres southeast of Milan.
Earlier in the day, queues formed at local supermarkets as anxious people, many wearing surgical masks, stocked up on provisions, fearing a long period of isolation.Concern over the spread of infections began to be felt beyond the quarantined areas on Sunday, particularly in Milan, the banking and fashion centre of Italy and the biggest city in the Lombardy region where most cases have been reported.
And in Venice, the exuberant annual carnival that attracts tourists from all over the world was cancelled from Sunday night, according to the region's president Luca Zaia. It had been scheduled to continue through Tuesday. A policewoman in the affected zone told AFP earlier that teams had been sent in from Bologna, Turin and Genoa to help local law enforcement.
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