An Italian politician has warned he'll send in police "with flamethrowers" to any people who break strict lockdown rules, the Daily Mail has reported.
This comes two weeks after Italy was placed on a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which was officially declared a pandemic by the WHO earlier this month.
Italy now has the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases behind China, with 63,927 confirmed infections, according to John Hopkins University. However, Italy now has the highest death toll in the world, with 6,077 people losing their lives as a result of the novel coronavirus.
However, despite the measures taken to stop people from going outside during the crisis, it appears that not everyone is listening, which is why the president of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, has spoken out to threaten even more extreme consequnces.
Listen to him threaten flamethrowers in this news address:
"I'm getting news that some would like to throw graduation parties. We will send over the police. With flamethrowers," he says in the video above.
But De Luca is not the only Italian politician to sternly address the people of Italy for failing to comply with the lockdown.
In the video above, which is a compilation of threats, the major of Lucera, Antonio Tutolo, rebuked those who were still trying to get their hair cut during the quarantine.
"Getting in mobile hairdressers, what the f*** is that for?" he asked. "Do you understand the casket will be closed? Who the f*** is supposed to even see you with your hair all done in the casket?"
Similarly, in a Facebook video, Cateno De Luca, the mayor of Messina, said: "You will not 'stroll' in my town. I can't formally ban you from leaving your house?
"I will ban you from setting foot on public soil unless for proven necessities."
Meanwhile, the mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Falcomatà, said: "This isn't a movie. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend. You have to go home."
This news comes as John Hopkins University reports that there have been a total of 383,944 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally and 16,595 deaths at the time of writing.
We are urging all of our readers to adhere to the advice from their respective governments and medical bodies, and practice social distancing and self-isolation where required. Together, we will beat this...
The Milan-based group A Thing By, has recently masterminded the video project, which sees vloggers recording messages to their past selves to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting them.
Have a look at some of the recordings in the video below:
The video begins with the quote: "I’m speaking to you from the future. I know you’re busy but wait a second. I wanted to update on Italy’s latest: a huge mess is about to happen. I’m sure you’ve heard about coronavirus. And I’m also pretty sure you’re underestimating it. I even used to make fun of people wearing masks."
Commenting on the project in an interview with Insider, creator Olmo Parenti stated: "We found ourselves being stuck at home and figured that we had to do something at a time like this, so we tried to come up with an idea that we could do from home. What we’re most excited about is that it seems like people are starting to take it seriously now that they saw the video, so it’s good to know we had an impact."
Take a look at this time-lapse video showing the reduction in pollution caused by the coronavirus:
Last week the World Health Organization granted the coronavirus pandemic status, writing in a statement: "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
At the time of writing, there have now been 190,394 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 7,257 deaths.
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Originating in Wuhan, China, late last year, it has spread around the globe, putting millions of vulnerable people at risk. With no known cure, many countries have taken increasingly extreme measures to halt its spread, including Italy, which is currently under a lockdown that could reportedly see those defying the measures charged with murder.
People are only allowed to leave their homes to get food and for family emergencies, or necessary work reasons, and those who go outside have been told to keep a distance of at least three feet between themselves and others.
Now, one man has come up with a novel solution of maintaining the distance - a giant disk:
In a video posted to social media, the man can be seen wearing the disk which ensures that he does not come into close contact with anyone else while grocery shopping at Testaccio market. He was able to successfully shop thanks to a claw tool typically used to pick up litter.
The man filming the video asks him in Italian: "And would this be the security distance for?"
He replies: "For coronavirus!"
The man filming then bursts into hysterics and says: "Wonderful. I can't cope!"
This man was filmed wiping his saliva on a Belgian subway train during the outbreak:
Italy's lockdown was introduced earlier this week following the initial decision to quarantine the north of the country.
According to WHO, social distancing should be enacted by everyone when they come into contact with a person who coughs or sneezes as the virus can be spread through their droplets.
The CDC has issued the following guidelines for anyone who is showing symptoms of the virus.
In a report from the WHO yesterday, they declared that the COVID-19 outbreak is now being officially recognized as a pandemic:
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.
"We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
As of yesterday's report, there have now been more than 118,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.
The Pope has prayed to god and asked him to deliver the world from the recent coronavirus pandemic.
With over 31,506 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in the country thus far, and with 2,503 deaths in the country as a direct result of the virus, the Pope has been praying in Vatican City while the country is in lockdown.
Take a look at this satellite footage showing the reduction in Italian pollution during the quarantine:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/ApXkbwTt-dkXnENEs.mp4||ApXkbwTt]] Per Vatican News, the Holy Father spoke to the daily Italian publication La Repubblica on Wednesday, and told them that: "I asked the Lord to stop the epidemic: ‘Lord, stop it with your hand’. That is what I prayed for."
He continued: "We must rediscover the concrete nature of small things, of making small gestures toward those around us - family, friends. They are gestures of tenderness, of affection, of compassion, which are nonetheless decisive and important - for example, a hot dish, a caress, a hug, a phone call ... I ask everyone to stay close to those who have lost loved ones, to be close to them in every possible way." A number of Italian neighbors were heard singing together during the national lockdown: [[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/NvqXiIwu-izxriqNH.mp4||NvqXiIwu]]
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 a pandemic last week, writing: "WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
The statement continued: "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering death."
At the time of writing, there have now been 204,828 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 8,271 deaths.
As of this writing, the national total of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 17,660 infections and seen 1,266 deaths, the BBC reports.
Last Monday, the entire country was put into national lockdown - a measure that still remains in place.
Now, an Italian doctor treating those infected with COVID-19 has taken to Facebook to speak out about his experiences working to fight the virus - describing it as a "tsunami that has swept us all".
Related - Man reveals what it is like to have the coronavirus:
Per the New York Post, Dr. Daniele Macchini of the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital (located in the northern city of Bergamo), shared a lengthy post on Facebook warning others about the true dangers of negligence and laxity in the ongoing battle against coronavirus.
In the lengthy post - translated by Dr. Silvia Stringhini, an epidemiologist and researcher at the Geneva University’s Institute of Global Health - Dr. Macchini writes:
"After much thought about whether and what to write about what is happening to us, I felt that silence was not responsible.
"I will, therefore, try to convey to people far from our reality what we are living in Bergamo in these days of Covid-19 pandemic. I understand the need not to create panic, but when the message of the dangerousness of what is happening does not reach people I shudder."
Bergamo - a city of about 122,000 some 30 miles northeast of Milan - is currently one of the nation's worth-hit areas, with 1,245 confirmed cases of the SARS-like virus (as of this writing).
"I myself watched with some amazement the reorganization of the entire hospital in the past week, when our current enemy was still in the shadows: the wards slowly ’emptied,’ elective activities were interrupted.
"All this rapid transformation brought an atmosphere of silence and surreal emptiness to the corridors of the hospital that we did not yet understand, waiting for a war that was yet to begin and that many (including me) were not so sure would ever come with such ferocity.
"I still remember my night call a week ago when I was waiting for the results of a swab. When I think about it, my anxiety over one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I’ve seen what’s happening. Well, the situation now is dramatic to say the least.
"The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. But now that need for beds has arrived in all its drama. One after the other the departments that had been emptied fill up at an impressive pace.
"The boards with the names of the patients, of different colors depending on the operating unit, are now all red and instead of surgery you see the diagnosis, which is always the damned same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia."
In the viral post - which has since been shared more than 35,000 times on the social media platform - the doctor also urged people not to compare COVID-19 to a bad case of the flu:
"Now, explain to me which flu virus causes such a rapid drama. […] And while there are still people who boast of not being afraid by ignoring directions, protesting because their normal routine is ‘temporarily’ put in crisis, the epidemiological disaster is taking place.
"And there are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us.
"Cases are multiplying, we arrive at a rate of 15-20 admissions per day all for the same reason. The results of the swabs now come one after the other: positive, positive, positive. Suddenly the E.R. is collapsing."
In the Facebook post, Macchini would go on to describe each ventilator as "gold", and then once again stressed the emotional and physical strain those working in the medical industry are currently facing:
"I saw the tiredness on faces that didn’t know what it was despite the already exhausting workloads they had. I saw a solidarity of all of us who never failed to go to our internist colleagues to ask, ‘What can I do for you now?’
"Doctors who move beds and transfer patients, who administer therapies instead of nurses. Nurses with tears in their eyes because we can’t save everyone, and the vital parameters of several patients at the same time reveal an already marked destiny.
"There are no more shifts, no more hours. Social life is suspended for us. We no longer see our families for fear of infecting them. Some of us have already become infected despite the protocols.
Macchini finished the startling post by revealing that some of his colleagues have now become infected themselves and then infected their relatives who "are already struggling between life and death". He typed:
“So be patient, you can’t go to the theater, museums or the gym. Try to have pity on the myriad of old people you could exterminate.
"I finish by saying that I really don’t understand this war on panic. The only reason I see is mask shortages, but there’s no mask on sale anymore. We don’t have a lot of studies, but is panic really worse than neglect and carelessness during an epidemic of this sort?"
A video has emerged on social media of quarantined Italians chanting "don't give up" amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Filmed in housing blocks in Casoria commune in Naples, it features residents coming out onto their balconies to sing while the country is on lockdown, forcing people to stay at home. Italian citizens can only go outside for emergency family or work reasons or to obtain food at a three-meter distance from each other.
In the video above, the residents can be heard chanting: "We will stay at home. Tonight the whole of Casoria are united in chorus. The people will never give up so come on Naples!"
"People like us will never give up; people like us will never give up; people like us; people like us; people like us will never give up,' they chant in unison.
"Come on Italy! Come on Naples! Forever!"
The residents then defiantly sing: "We are all united. Come out on your balconies, out on your balconies! Come out on your balconies, out on your balconies!
"The virus that is facing us will not defeat us... The virus that is facing us will not defeat us!"
This man was filmed rubbing his saliva on a subway car during the outbreak:
This is not the only uplifting video to emerge from Italy during the pandemic either. Italian neighbors in Siena were also filmed singing during the coronavirus lockdown.
It was uploaded to Twitter and captioned: "People of my hometown Siena sing a popular song from their houses along an empty street to warm their heart during the Italian Covid-19 lockdown."
"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.
"We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.
"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death."
As per the WorldOMeter dashboard, at the time of writing, there have now been 140,049 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 136 countries, and 5,123 people have lost their lives.
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