Italians with coronavirus symptoms could face murder charges if they venture outside despite the quarantine and cause a patient’s death.
Suspected virus patients have been ordered to stay indoors with a penalty of 206 euros (£182) over their heads – but they could face far graver charges if they infect someone on their travels.
The most severe charge of ‘malicious murder’ could lead to a prison sentence as long as 21 years, according to Italian media, while virus spreaders could still be charged with misconduct even if no-one is killed.
‘If I am infected, I know I am, and I look for contact with other people regardless of the possibility of transmitting the infection, then the crime of injury occurs,’ lawyer Franco Coppi told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Italian media compared the possible charges to penalties for spreading HIV by deliberately having unprotected sex – a charge which led to one man being jailed for 24 years in Rome in 2017.
It comes as Italy shut down all shops except for pharmacies and food stores today as it entered day three of its unprecedented nationwide lockdown.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced the latest wave of restrictions in a prime-time address last night with bars, pubs and restaurants shut down for two weeks.
‘Thank you to all Italians who make sacrifices. We are proving to be a great nation,’ Conte said in his nine-minute address to the nation.
Italian cities are becoming ‘unrecognisable’ with the famous piazzas in Rome, Florence and Venice empty except for sanitation workers spraying them with disinfectant.
The death toll yesterday jumped by 196, reaching 827, while the number of cases rose to 12,462 from a previous 10,149 in the world’s worst outbreak outside China.
Meanwhile, time is running out for Britons to return home from Italy with the last flights departing tomorrow night, neighbouring countries shutting their borders and a Rome airport closing tomorrow.
A deserted St Peter’s Square in Vatican City this morning with Italy entering the third day of its nationwide lockdown and regular tourist hotspots remaining empty
Closed bars and restaurants near Piazza Navona in Rome this morning after Italy’s quarantine was tightened even further
Slovenian police and health workers approach a driver for questioning at the Slovenian-Italian border crossing of Fernetici today, with Italy’s neighbours increasingly shutting their borders
A graph showing how coronavirus cases have surged in Italy in the last three weeks, rising to 12,462 last night
The UK government is advising British tourists in Italy to arrange flights home as soon as possible – but the number of available spots is dwindling after BA, Ryanair and easyJet ripped up their flight schedules.
Ryanair’s Italian ban comes into effect from midnight tomorrow night, leaving Britons scrambling for a spot on a small number of repatriation flights arranged by Ryanair and easyJet.
EasyJet said earlier this week it would be ‘operating rescue flights for passengers wishing to travel for essential work, health or repatriation reasons to and from Italy’.
Ryanair had initially announced a minimal service until April 8, but announced on Tuesday it was completely scrapping flights from Italy from midnight on Friday.
Meanwhile, British Airways says travellers booked to fly between London and Italy until April 4 can claim a refund or book a later flight.
The airline has also advised its customers to travel home via Geneva or Zurich in Switzerland instead.
Italian authorities announced today that Rome’s Ciampino airport, which usually handles budget flights, would close entirely from Friday night.
The main Fiumicino airport will also close a terminal on Tuesday next week as airlines around the world slash flights to Italy.
Escape from Italy has been made even harder by new border checks in Austria, Switzerland Slovenia, which have all acted to stop the virus spreading across their borders.
Austria has ordered a halt to flights and trains from Italy while Slovenia said has begun imposing controls at its border with the country.
Switzerland said yesterday that the border remained open for commuters with work permits, but nine border crossings have been closed.
A spokeswoman for Germany’s Deutsche Bahn said that the only service it had linking it to Italy, between Munich and Venice, has also been suspended.
France’s national train company SNCF said on Tuesday it was ‘waiting for advice’ about how to proceed regarding services to Italy.
Since late February, French staff on cross-border SNCF trains have been getting off before the Italian border and being replaced by Italian colleagues.
A view of the empty Via Andrea Doria this morning, which is usually one of Rome’s busiest streets surrounding the Vatican
An employee of the municipal company Veritas sprays disinfectant in public areas at the Rialto Bridge in Venice
A closed border crossing between Slovenia and Italy at Lipica is seen today as countries try to stop the virus spreading
A medic checks the temperature of people crossing the Slovenian-Italian border by car at Fernetici on Thursday morning
A man in protective gear gives a coronavirus fact sheet to a driver at Austria’s Brenner Pass border crossing with Italy
Austrian police turn away cars arriving from Italy at the Brenner Pass on Wednesday, directing them to a nearby checkpoint
In Italy, Conte tightened restrictions even further last night with bars and restaurants ordered to close after previously being told they could stay open if they ensured a 3ft distance between guests.
‘All shops will be closed except for basic necessities, such as pharmacies and food stores,’ said Conte. ‘Bars, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and canteen services will close. Home delivery is allowed.’
There was ‘no need to rush to buy groceries,’ he said – after Italians responded to the announcement of the lockdown on Monday night by cramming into supermarkets to stock up.
Conte’s announcement came hours after his government promised to spend up to 25 billion euros (£22bn) to fight a disease that has put hospitals and the economy under intense strain.
The size of Rome’s rescue was the same as one the European Union announced for the entire 27-nation bloc Monday.
Italy’s economy minister said half the money would be used immediately and the other half stowed away and tapped should the health crisis spiral out of control.
Part of the government’s cash injection is meant to help small businesses that are suffering the brunt of an implosion in the number of tourists who visit Italy’s art-filled churches and beautiful hills.
The government also put more meat on the bones of an emerging plan to let families temporarily suspend some mortgage and social tax payments.
Gualtieri said ‘partial state guarantees’ were being discussed to help Italy’s creaking banks survive a resulting cash crunch.
Soldiers walk at Milan’s Malpensa Airport Terminal 1 today during a coronavirus outbreak which has led to cancelled flights
Passengers wearing protective face masks are pictured at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on the third day of the lockdown today
The government responded to the outbreak last month by quarantining 50,000 people in 11 villages that were worst affected in the north.
That was followed on Sunday with social distancing measures in Milan’s Lombardy region and surrounding areas in which more than 15 million live and 40 percent of the nation’s economic activity occurs.
The Lombardy measures were extended to all Italy on Tuesday morning.
Tourists have essentially disappeared and the Vatican’s Saint Peter’s Square has closed to all but those who want to enter the basilica to pray under its soaring dome overlooking Rome.
Pope Francis held an audience in his private library yesterday with his clerical translators sitting apart, while St Peter’s Square stood empty with disappointed worshippers forced to watch his audience on a live-stream.
Some shoppers and shopkeepers have also taken the 3ft safety distance to heart by carrying rulers and marking out lines where people should stand.
The central streets of Rome remained deserted on Wednesday evening and buses that are usually crammed with commuters ran almost empty.
‘I can’t even recognise Rome now,’ 30-year-old Muscovite Yekaterina said while posing alone for a photo by the usually bustling Trevi Fountain in the heart of Rome.
Photographers saw masked sanitation workers in white nylon suits and rubber gloves spraying Florence’s deserted Saint Mark’s Square with disinfectant through a long hose.
Cathedrals posted hand-written notes cancelling mass and cafes apologised to their regulars for having to turn them away.
Staff sit behind an easyJet counter, one woman wearing a face mask, at Milan’s Linate airport today – with many countries imposing restrictions on travel to and from Italy
An arcade near the Doge’s Palace in Venice is deserted except for a sanitary worker spraying disinfectant
A square is deserted in front of Milan Central railway station, with travel restricted until at least April 3 because of the virus
Italy has witnessed nearly 60 percent of the deaths recorded outside China since the epidemic first started spreading from the Asian giant’s central Hubei province in January.
Italian hospitals have become increasingly overwhelmed by the crisis, with doctors forced to make life-or-death decisions about who gets access to intensive care.
With even Lombardy’s first-class health system creaking under the strain, there are fears that hospitals in poorer southern regions will be unable to cope.
A new intensive care unit is being assembled at the Cardarelli hospital in Naples where rooms are being stripped out to make way for a ‘Coronavirus Wing’.
‘The south is less prepared, and could pay a serious price for it,’ Cardarelli’s director Giuseppe Longo said. ‘The state has asked us to get ready. We are employing hundreds of new doctors, nurses and medical staff.’
Of the 5,400 or so intensive care beds in Italy, the seven southern regions and islands counted just 1,582 between them.
Conte said yesterday that the production and distribution of intensive care equipment for hospitals across the nation would be ramped up.
Keeping their distance: Pope Francis gives his weekly audience in a Vatican live-stream – with his clerical translators keeping the recommended 3ft apart as the Italian quarantine measures reach the Holy See
A view inside the mostly deserted Milan railway station yesterday, where checks were taking place on the few passengers
Prepared: A woman carries a ruler to a shopping trip in Milan, under a 3ft rule intended to stop the spread of the virus
An empty street in Milan yesterday on the second day of Italy’s unprecedented national lockdown to tackle the coronavirus
Marked out: Footprints and lines are drawn on the ground to show where people should queue in front of a street food stall in Milan’s Buozzi square today, with the 3ft safety measure being imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus