AP PHOTOS: New virus curfew brings silence to Milan streets
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After 11 p.m., Milan is a ghost town. The piazzas are empty, the streets dark and quiet.
The silence is broken by the occasional rumble of a bus, streetcar or taxi, gliding through the night with few or no passengers.
Since an 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity.
The curfew is among a raft of measures that authorities hope will stem the resurgence of COVID-19 in a part of the world that suffered severely early in the pandemic.
Milan, Italy's business hub and the capital of the wealthy Lombardy region, has seen the sharpest rise in infections as the coronavirus once again is spreading out of control.
Further restrictions are set to take effect Monday. The Italian government is trying to prevent a repeat of the crisis the country experienced in the spring, when more than 30,000 people died and the hospitals at one point had more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
That number dwindled to double digits in the summer. In its latest update, the Health Ministry reported Saturday that more than 1,127 COVID-19 patients were in ICUs across Italy, including 213 in Lombardy. The nation’s confirmed death toll, the second-highest in Europe after Britain’s, rose to 37,210 with the deaths of another 151 people.
___
Karl Ritter in Rome contributed to this report.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.