Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ordered almost all businesses nationwide to close, two days after stringent travel restrictions began.
Pharmacies, grocery stores, banks, and public transit are allowed to operate, but non-vital commercial enterprises must close.
Italy had already banned public gatherings requested that 60 million residents not travel except for work or emergencies.
But across Europe, the epidemic has spread at a speed that has left countries scrambling to come up with containment plans.
Italy reported more than 2,300 new cases today, pushing its total to 12,000, with 827 deaths, the second-worst outbreak after China.
Across Europe, the number of confirmed infections jumped to more than 22,000.
France has almost 2,300 infections, Spain has almost 2,200, and Germany has about 1,600.
Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland each have more than 400 infections. Belgium and Denmark each have at least 300 cases.
Iceland has more than 80 infections in its population of about 364,000.
The National Basketball Association in the United States suspended its competition season after a Utah Jazz team player showed that he has coronavirus.
Earlier, the National Collegiate Athletic Association began to bar spectators from attending competitions.
Actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus in Australia. They are quarantined and observed.
U.S. President Trump said that on Friday U.S.A. will bar travelers from Europe other than U.K. for a month to try to prevent importing coronavirus from Europe.
Bahrain’s Formula One car race is scheduled to be run without on-site spectators in response to the global coronavirus outbreak. China’s Formula One car race has been postponed, and Vietnam’s race is uncertain.
On this date in 1962, astronaut John Glenn, U.S.M.C., became the first American to orbit Earth as he flew aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule.
On this date in 1945, about 30,000 United States Marines landed on the island Iwo Jima, where they encountered ferocious resistance from Japanese forces. The Americans took control of the strategically important island after a month-long battle.
