As Italy extends quarantine zone, many flee; angry officials tell them to go back
LA TimesA gondolier looks at his smartphone as he waits for clients in Venice, which is among cities in Italy under coronavirus lockdown. As news of the looming lockdown leaked to Italian media Saturday afternoon, ahead of its formal announcement in the early hours Sunday, many crowded onto trains and buses to leave the extended quarantine area, including southern Italians who work in the industrial heartlands of northern Italy and sought to return home. “Stop and turn back.” Emiliano added, “Don’t bring back to your Puglia the Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna epidemic by fleeing before the government decree takes effect. You are injecting into the lungs of your brothers and sisters, your grandparents, uncles, cousins and parents the virus which has threatened the North’s healthcare system.” Emiliano was joined by Jole Santelli, governor of Calabria in the toe of Italy, who said the “exodus” toward the south was “madness” and called on the national government to stop people fleeing. One ironic consequence of the extension of Italy’s so-called Red Zone coronavirus quarantine area is that the 50,000 people living in the initial quarantine zones created two weeks ago now find themselves free to roam in a much larger cordoned-off area.