Update (1735ET): Italy's Corriere has just reported the first death from Covid-19 - a 77 year old man in Padua, Veneto region.
Authorities in northern Italy on Friday ordered the closure of schools, bars and other public spaces in 10 towns following a flurry of new coronavirus cases.
After 5 doctors and 10 other people tested positive for the virus in Lombardy, IBTimes reports that over 50,000 people have been asked to stay at home while all public activities such as carnival celebrations, church masses and sporting events have been banned for up to a week.
In a desperate attempt to reassure a public beginning to panic, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said "everything is under control", and stressed the government was maintaining "an extremely high level of precaution".
In Casalpusterlengo, a large electronic message board outside the town hall read:
"Coronavirus: the population is invited to remain indoors as a precaution".
More polite than the full martial law forced upon the people of Wuhan for sure.