Italy announces possible jail time for COVID-19 patients violating quarantine

To restrict people from spreading the disease further and make them confide within four walls of their house, Italy has announced strict new punishments to try and clamp down on the spread of the coronavirus in the country, including possible jail time for people who have the virus and violate quarantine. 

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Stricter laws

The new orders, published late on March 24, include: those who have tested positive and do not stay home could face one to five years in prison. Fines for violating quarantine rise from 400 euros ($430) to 3,000 euros ($3,245). Businesses that break rules designed to keep the virus from spreading could be closed from five to 30 days. The regulations will be reviewed each month until July 31, and could be made stricter, the government decree says. The decree does not extend the length of the current restrictions, which are due to end on April 3. Italy, the new epicenter of the virus, has recorded nearly 70,000 cases and almost 7,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Read: Italy: New Coronavirus Cases Drop To Lowest Amid Crisis

Meanwhile Italy on March 24 reportedly confirmed that its coronavirus infections rates has been slowing down. As per reports, Italy's 743 new deaths broke two days of successive declines that had taken the number down to 601 on Monday. It set a world record of 793 fatalities on Saturday. According to the reports, the officials registered just eight percent rise on Tuesday which is the lowest level since Italy registered its first death on February 21.The decline in the new cases reveal that the complete lockdown is effectively working. As per international media reports, Prime Minister Giuseppe has increased the fine amounts for those who are found out on the streets without a legitimate reason from the current 206 euros to 400-3,000 euros. 

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Confirmed cases

Italy has reported total confirmed cases of 69,176  while its death toll stands at 6,820 while 8,326 patients have been recovered so far. More than 60 per cent of the latest deaths reportedly occurred in the northern region of Lombardy, where the hospitals are flooded with patients that have left intensive care beds hard to find and respirators in dire supply. 

Italy is the worst-hit in the world and the north of the country, particularly the Lombardy region, hospitals struggle to treat thousands of cases. While speaking at a news conference, President of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, said that the government has agreed that the military can be used to help enforce the lockdown. Fontana said, “The request to use the army has been accepted and 114 soldiers will be on the ground throughout Lombardy. It is still too little, but it is positive”. He further added, “Unfortunately we are not seeing a change of trend in the numbers, which are rising”. 

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