Italy to restrict movement of people amid spike in coronavirus

Italian regions most affected by the new coronavirus will now be able to restrict the movement of people in order to prevent the spread of the disease, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced after an emergency ministerial meeting.

"In areas considered to be hotbeds, neither entry nor exit will be permitted unless there is a special exemption," Conte told reporters after the five-hour meeting, also saying that a relevant decree has been adopted, which outlines measures to control the emergency epidemiological situation in the country.

Head of Italy's civil protection agency Angelo Borelli said at the same press conference that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy was 79, with two people having died from the disease.

According to Borelli, 51 people have been hospitalized, with 18 of them currently in intensive care. Eleven of the people infected with the new coronavirus in Italy are quarantined at home.

Cases of the new coronavirus (COVID-2019) have been confirmed in five Italian regions, with Lombardy currently most affected (over 50 people infected).