Coronavirus: Residents in Italian town 'demand removal of woman with virus'

The woman reportedly arrived from Lombardy, the epicentre of Italy's outbreak

Residents in a town in southern Italy took to the streets to demand a woman with coronavirus be moved out the area after the mayor spoke about her case, according to local media.

Locals in Acerra, near Naples, reportedly went to the neighbourhood in which she is staying, knocked bins over and blocked a road in protest.

Raffaele Lettieri, the mayor, said someone had tested positive for Covid-19 in the town after travelling down from a badly-hit area northern Italy.

“I’m very sorry about this because obviously they broke the rules by coming here," he claimed in a Facebook video.

According to the mayor, the woman came from Lombardy – Italy’s hardest-hit region by coronavirus – on 9 March, the day after the region’s lockdown was announced.

He highlighted the risk she posed if she had not strictly followed quarantine measures for the weeks between arriving and testing positive.

Mr Lettieri did not name anyone, but a woman claimed he was speaking about her in a now-deleted Facebook video where she said she wanted to set the record straight, according to local media.

She reportedly said she had followed all the necessary precautions and had self-isolated since coming to Acerra from Lombardy earlier this month.

The woman said she had tested positive last week, Italian newspaper Il Mattino reported.

After the mayor's video, some took to the streets in her neighbourhood and demanded her removal, according to Voce di Napoli, a local online paper.

The Independent has contacted local police about whether the protesters were fined for breaking Italy’s lockdown rules.

Italians have been ordered to stay inside except for essential trips, for example to buy groceries or go to work, as authorities combat the spread of coronavirus.

More than 100,000 people have been infected with Covid-19 - a flu-like disease that can turn into pneumonia - in Italy to date, with more than 14,600 having beaten the virus.

The official death toll stood at around 11,500 on Tuesday, according to official figures.