Italy extends confinement period

Italy extends confinement period - According to the head of the Italian government Giuseppe Conte "the restrictive measures are working" but they will have to be extended after the peak of contamination.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the containment measures taken a week ago in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the pandemic, would be "extended to from it’s end" on April 3rd.

The pandemic killed 475 people in Italy between Tuesday and Wednesday, the worst record recorded in a single country in a day, according to the official report released Wednesday.

Now, nearly 3,000 people have lost their lives in the country due to this disease, a figure very close to that of China (more than 3,200 dead) where the pandemic started.

Giuseppe Conte said he did not plan to tighten the arsenal of restrictive measures for the moment, but said he was ready "to act" if the restrictions were not respected.

Adding "We must use common sense and act with the utmost awareness, the criminal sanctions for violators are there and will be strictly applied,"

He concluded "I agree with the mayors who have also closed public gardens and parks, one thing is to practice a sporting activity, another is to transform public places into meeting points, which is unacceptable".

Several elected officials from the northern regions of Italy, where the contagion is still progressing strongly, believe that if it does not slow down in the coming days, even more rigid measures will have to be planned, such as the ban on jogging.

For the past week, 60 million Italians have been confined to their homes and can only travel for professional or imperative reasons and any gathering is prohibited. Schools are closed.