A fourth person infected with the coronavirus has died in Italy, officials said on Monday as the government struggled to contain an outbreak of the illness and financial markets slid on fears over the economic impact.
More than 200 people have come down with the virus since Friday, latest data showed, the vast majority of them in the wealthy northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
Looking to slow the worst flare-up of the disease outside of Asia, authorities across the north have shut schools, universities, museums and cinemas for at least a week, and banned public gatherings including the famed Venice carnival.
Almost a dozen towns in Lombardy close to Italy’s financial capital Milan, with a combined population of nearly 50,000, have been placed under effective quarantine, with similar measures in place for a small town in neighboring Veneto.
“To be honest, nobody thought the spread (of coronavirus) would be so aggressive. The illness is not serious, but it must not be underestimated,” Attilio Fontana, the regional governor of Lombardy, told 102.5 RTL radio.
He added that emergency measures imposed at the weekend would be effective and that “in a matter of days, the spread of the virus will regress”.
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