Night-time curfew imposed on hard-hit region around Milan

The curfew in the northern financial powerhouse centred around Milan will run from 11pm to 5am
REUTERS
Michael Howie20 October 2020

Lombardy will become the latest European region to impose a night curfew to tackle surging coronavirus infections after the Italian government approved the move.

The curfew in the northern financial powerhouse centred around Milan will run from 11pm to 5am, and is expected to be in place from Thursday. Medium and large shopping malls will close at weekends.

Covid-19 cases are surging again in the region which was badly hit by the first wave of the pandemic in March.

Experts have warned that hospital admissions are poised to rise to 4,000 by the end of the month from around 1,100 at present, with intensive care patients predicted to jump to 600 from around 110. A Covid hospital at a conference centre has reopened in a sign of the emerging crisis.

In France, pressure on the health system is also growing. The number of ICU patients with Covid-19 has gone beyond 2,000 for the first time since May 17, with disease-related hopitalisations now exceeding 11,000.

In a bid to tackle the second wave, the government has put nine cities including Paris under an initial four-week curfew running from 9pm to 6am.

Spain’s capital Madrid is also considering imposing a curfew to contain the new wave. Meanwhile in Poland, the National Stadium in Warsaw is being transformed into a field hospital to handle the surging number of coronavirus infections.

Argentina today became the fifth country to record more than one million cases as Latin America continues to register some of the world’s highest daily case counts.

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