Virus clampdown in Italy, Iran as global toll rises

Italy clamps down on travel and Iran shuts schools as fears spike worldwide over the rapid spread of the coronavirus, which China says took another 96 lives at the outbreak's epicentre.

Two deaths from the new coronavirus sparked fears throughout northern Italy on Saturday, as about 50,000 people were poised for a weeks-long lockdown imposed by authorities trying to halt a further increase in infections.

Italy on Friday became the first country in Europe to report the death of one of its own nationals from the virus, triggering travel restrictions on about a dozen towns where the number of people contaminated has continued to rise.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that people living inside the affected areas in the northern regions would be restricted to those areas, while schools and businesses closed, as part of measures designed to stem new infections.

"In zones considered hotspots, neither entry or exit will be authorised without special permission," Conte said during a press conference.

A 77-year-old woman died on Saturday near the small town of Codogno in Lombardy in the north, a day after a 78-year-old retired bricklayer succumbed to the virus in the neighbouring region of Veneto.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to 79 by late Saturday, including the two deceased, said the head of Italy's civil protection department, Angelo Borelli.

Most are in the region of Lombardy, but three other regions in Italy's north have confirmed cases, as well as the central region of Lazio, which includes the capital, Rome.

Newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the virus had also been identified in Milan, Lombardy's largest city and the financial centre of Italy.

"The contagiousness of this virus is very strong and pretty virulent," Lombardy's health chief Giulio Gallera told a press conference earlier on Saturday.

But he cautioned: "Today it's not a pandemic."

Conte warned that the restrictive measures would last for a couple of weeks, corresponding to the length of time the virus incubates. Some 50,000 people, who had already been asked to stay at home by local authorities, will be affected, he said.

Italian authorities have also ordered the postponement of three Serie A football matches on Sunday.

He urged people not to "give in to feelings of panic."

'Patient number one' 
In Lombardy, health authorities had identified "patient number one", a 38-year-old man from the small town of Codogno southeast of Milan who has been in a serious condition in intensive care.

All cases in the region are connected to him, Gallera said, whether medical workers, relatives or friends.

Italian media had reported that the man dined in January with a friend recently returned from China, yet who has tested negative for the virus. But Italy's deputy minister of health, Pierpaolo Sileri, said that since the man had not subsequently developed antibodies, he was not the source of the contamination.

In Codogno, streets were mostly deserted and few shops open a day after the mayor put the town of 15,000 people on temporary lockdown. As night fell it resembled a ghost town.

One man, who gave his name as Alberto, described a "muffled silence" in town.

"I don't have a mask because they ran out in the pharmacy, but I'm taking precautions," said the 68-year-old.

"When I meet someone, I talk to them keeping my distance, or I take the long way around to get home so I don't run into anyone."

'No panic' 
Italy's health minister said the man who died on Friday, Adriano Trevisan, had been admitted to hospital 10 days earlier for an unrelated health issue.

The president of Veneto, Luca Zaia, told RaiNews 24 early Saturday that none of those infected with the virus in the region had been in contact with anyone who had recently arrived from China.

In Rome, two Chinese tourists who were Italy's first confirmed cases remain in isolation. A third man who was also quarantined has recovered and been released from the same hospital, the Spallanzani Institute in Rome, said Borrelli of the civil protection department.

Since December, COVID-19 has killed more than 2,200 people in China, the epicentre of the virus.

Elsewhere in the world, it has killed more than a dozen people and spread across some 27 countries and territories. Last Sunday, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died from the new coronavirus in France.

In the areas now under lockdown in northern Italy, public activities such as carnival celebrations, church masses and sporting events had been banned for up to a week, while bars, restaurants, schools and libraries had shut their doors.
Iran
Iran on Saturday ordered the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres after a coronavirus outbreak that has killed five people in the Islamic republic -- the most outside the Far East.

The moves came as Iranian authorities reported one more death among 10 new cases of the virus.

Since it emerged in December, the new coronavirus has killed 2,345 people in China, the epicentre of the epidemic, and 17 elsewhere in the world.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Iran first surfaced on Wednesday, when authorities said it claimed the lives of two elderly people in Qom, a Shiite holy city south of the capital.

They were the first confirmed deaths from the virus in the Middle East. Iran reported two more deaths on Friday.

"We have 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19," Iran's health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told state television on Saturday.

"One of the new cases has unfortunately passed away," he added, noting that eight of them had been hospitalised in Qom and two in Tehran, without specifying where the death occurred.

The latest cases take to 28 the total number of confirmed infections in Iran.

Based on official figures, nearly 18 percent of those infected with the new coronavirus in Iran have died, compared with little more than three percent in China.

Mask sales soar 
As a "preventive measure", authorities ordered the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres in 14 provinces across the country from Sunday, state television reported.

They include Qom, Markazi, Gilan, Ardabil, Kermanshah, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Hamedan, Alborz, Semnan, Kurdistan and the capital, Tehran.

The government also announced that "all art and cinema events in halls across the country have been cancelled until the end of the week" in order to stop infections.

"We are on the frontlines, we need help," head of Qom's medical sciences university said on state TV.

"If I can say one thing, it is help Qom," said Mohammadreza Ghadir.

The World Health Organization has expressed concern over the speed at which COVID-19 has spread in Iran, as well as it being exported from the Islamic republic to other countries including Lebanon.

"The concern is... that we have seen an increase in cases, a very rapid increase in a matter of a few days," said Sylvie Briand, director of the WHO's global infectious hazard preparedness department.

"We are just wondering about also the potential of more exported cases in the coming days," she added.

The Iranian outbreak emerged in the lead-up to a parliamentary election on Friday.

State media said the deadly virus had failed to dampen "the revolutionary zeal of Qom's people" to turn out to vote.

Iranians have been snapping up surgical face masks in a bid to avoid catching the virus.

Online retailer Digikala -- Iran's equivalent of Amazon -- said on Friday that it had sold 75,000 masks within 36 hours.

It said it was not claiming a commission on its mask sales, amid concerns that demand was causing prices to skyrocket on the black market.

'Epidemic has started' 
"We stand against the unusual price increase," Digikala tweeted.

"We stand alongside our dear suppliers and by providing fresh supplies, we hope we can meet a part of the country's demand."

The health ministry said tests had been carried out on 785 suspected coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.

"Most of the cases are either Qom residents or have a history of coming and going from Qom to other cities," its spokesman said.

Iran has yet to confirm the origin of the outbreak, but one official speculated that it was brought in by Chinese workers.

"The coronavirus epidemic has started in the country," state news agency IRNA quoted the health ministry's Minoo Mohraz as saying.

"Since those infected in Qom had no contact with the Chinese ... the source is probably Chinese workers who work in Qom and have travelled to China," she added.

But the official did not provide any evidence to support her claim, and it has not been reported elsewhere in Iranian media.

All of those who lost their lives are believed to be Iranian citizens.

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims, attracting scholars from Iran and beyond.

Following the announcement of the first two deaths, neighbouring Iraq on Thursday clamped down on travel to and from the Islamic republic.

The Iraqi health ministry announced that people in Iran were barred from entering the country "until further notice".

Kuwait's national carrier Kuwait Airways meanwhile announced it would suspend all flights to Iran.