Italians are told to stand one metre away from each other in all public spaces in bid to stop coronavirus spreading
- The one-metre rule will also apply in pubs, shops and churches in the country
- Rule based on how far saliva drops travel when released into air as people talk
- Other measures by Italy’s health authorities include a ban on public gatherings
- Italy has now recorded 2,036 cases and 52 deaths – the worst outbreak in Europe
Italians have been told to stand one metre away from each other in all public spaces in a bid to stop coronavirus spreading.
The death toll in Italy jumped to 52 yesterday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe’s worst affected country climbed to 2,036.
The one-metre rule will also apply to pubs, shops and churches and is based on a study of how far saliva droplets can travel when they are released into the air as people talk, The Times have reported.
Italians have been told to stand one metre away from each other in all public spaces in a bid to stop coronavirus spreading. Pictured: a woman in Rome wears a mask
Other measures by Italy’s health authorities include a ban on public gatherings and school closures in the north.
The three worst-hit regions – Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna – have extended the closure of schools for another week.
Ten per cent of virus patients in Italy were in intensive care with respiratory problems, the health chief of the Lombardy region in northern Italy has said.
He added that they were almost exclusively over 65 years old and asked all elderly people in the region to leave home as little as possible for the next two weeks.
The death toll in Italy jumped to 52 yesterday from 34 the day before and the total number of confirmed cases in Europe’s worst affected country climbed to 2,036. Pictured: people wearing medical face masks in Rome
Map showing the total number of cases of the virus worldwide and the number of people that have died so far
Pope Francis has tested negative for coronavirus, after cancelling engagements and largely disappearing from public view last week after falling ill (pictured on Sunday)
Giovanni Rezza, the head of the infectious diseases department at the national health institute, said that schools were a key area to keep control of.
‘Not because children are vulnerable — they don’t suffer as much as adults — but they can transmit it to parents and grandparents,’ he said.
He also had a warning for countries like the UK where the virus is starting to spread, saying: ‘Be very careful and contain clusters as soon as possible.’
Officials in Italy also said it could take up to two weeks to know whether measures including quarantines in 11 northern towns were working.
Nearby in France the latest death was reported in the Oise department northeast of Paris, in the country’s most significant cluster.
With at least 191 cases, including 47 in the Oise, France is the second worst affected country in Europe after Italy.
The Louvre in Paris shut its doors for a second day yesterday after staff walked out over health risks.
In China, the number of new virus cases dropped again Tuesday, with just 125 new cases after a six-week low of 202 a day earlier.
It’s still by far the hardest-hit country, with 80,151 cases and 2,943 deaths.
The virus has been detected in at least 70 countries with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths.
The U.S.’ count of COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 in 11 states.
President Donald Trump and his Cabinet met with pharmaceutical executives Monday to discuss how to speed the search for a vaccine.