Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree early Sunday that will put millions of people across northern Italy under lockdown due to the novel coronavirus.
The sweeping move puts the entire Lombardy region, as well as 14 other provinces, under travel restrictions, and is one of the toughest responses implemented outside of mainland China to get the Covid-19 epidemic under control.
The announcement came after Italy saw a dramatic spike of 1,247 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, the Civil Protection Department said in a statement.
Rome correspondent Jospehine McKenna speaks to Susie Ferguson.
