Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte has announced that the entire country is to go into quarantine, as part of emergency measures aimed at halting the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak. The government's extraordinary measures, announced at Palazzo Chigi late on 9 March, comes amid a worsening of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Conte said the new stringent measures, covering the entire country, will be signed tonight and would take effect tomorrow morning, 10 March. "We are seeing a significant rise in the number of people in intensive care and unfortunately in the number of deaths" - Conte said - "Our habits must change now: we must give up something for the good of Italy."