'Italy sealed off entire towns and canceled major events after 400 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths made it the most infected country outside of Asia'
Sinéad Baker - Business Insider - February 26, 2020
[Right: Military officers outside the Duomo cathedral, closed by authorities because of the coronavirus outbreak, in Milan on February 24]
REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo
* Italy is scrambling to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus within its borders as cases of COVID-19 soar.
* Italy has the most cases outside of Asia. As of Wednesday evening, 12 people there had died from the disease.
* The country has put almost a dozen towns under lockdown, canceled major sporting events, and debated closing its borders with neighboring countries.
* The two most infected regions are Lombardy and Veneto in the north of Italy, home to Milan and Venice. New cases are also being reported in southern Italy.
* Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Italy is scrambling to fight a coronavirus outbreak after a sharp spike in cases and deaths made it the worst-hit country outside of Asia.
As of Wednesday evening, 12 people in Italy had died from the virus. Italian authorities reported at least 400 cases of COVID-19 in the country, according to the BBC.
All the people who have died in Italy were elderly or had other health complications, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the Associated Press reported.
The country has put 11 towns on lockdown to contain the virus' spread.
The two most infected regions are Lombardy and Veneto in the north, which contain the major cities of Milan and Venice. But the virus has also spread farther south, with regions including Tuscany and the island of Sicily also reporting cases on Tuesday and Wednesday.
con't....
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I'll just re-post the following from the previous post:
There are--on average--10,000 germs on a human hand. It would always be a good idea, even aside from this concern, to have liquid hand cleaner handy during the day. Also, halo oral antiseptic spray is a good precaution to use prior to a lot of close contact, such as grocery shopping. Using latex gloves is an option as well. I think a box of 100 goes for about $11 at Lowes. Face masks can be observed occasionally in places like San Francisco. Think gas pumps, shopping cart handles, and door knobs/handles.
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Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
Using the reasoning of the Spanish government, the United States is illegal. Americans of the 18th century did not rise up against the British. They WERE the British! They fought against their own government for independence. Only in this case, Catalonians are a different nation, with a different language. Furthermore, the Spanish government defeated many other nations by force, so who's to say what is "legitimate?" It's really no different than Corsica, the Basque Country, and numerous other nations by culture and language; most often only subjugated due to military conquest. How about dragging Javier Zaragoza and the other prosecuters into the World Court in handcuffs and leg irons, kicking and screaming.... that sounds more like justice than the ending result of this. Of course, nothing is really ever "over" is it?
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11-5-19 ADDITION: I wanted to add the following image here.
Catalonia and Lombardia
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As we're now well into the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, it should be noted that the northeast Alps is overwhelmingly the source of Winter Olympic athletes for Italy. Close to half of the Italian team are natives of the South Tyrol alone; with the vast majority of the rest being natives of Lombardy, Trentino, and Tri-Veneto Alps. Südtiroler Dominik Windisch has already won a bronze in the Men's 10km Sprint Biathlon. Even China only has one silver so far, as it's still early.
The Italy at the 2018 Winter Olympics Wikipedia page gives a rundown on all of the events and athletes of the Italian team. Speed skater Arianna Fontana and Alpine skiiers Sofia Goggia and Nadia Fanchini are a few that I'm watching. In last months' World Cup in Austria, Italy took all three medals in the Woman's Alpine Downhill (image below); Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone, and Nadia Fanchini ('Goggia leads Italian sweep at World Cup downhill').
NBCOlympics.com
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The U.S. equivalent to the northeast Italian Alps is Colorado. In fact, many winter athletes from around the world train in the mountainous state. 17 year old snowboarder and Colorado native Red Gerard was the first American to win a gold medal for the slopestyle snowboard event. Michigan native Ryan Pivirotto, with roots in the Veneto Alps apparently, is an American short track speed skater.
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'Italy's 2 richest regions claim victory in autonomy votes'
MILAN (AP) — The presidents of Italy's wealthy northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy on Sunday claimed victory in autonomy referendums that seek to grab additional powers and tax revenue from Rome, riding a global tide of self-determination that has swamped Spain's Catalonia region.
The votes were nonbinding, but the leaders of the neighboring regions hope to leverage strong turnout in talks with Italy's center-left government. As leading members of the anti-migrant, anti-EU Northern League, they want to keep more tax revenue and have autonomy over such policy areas as immigration, security, education and environment.
"This is the big bang of institutional reform," Veneto President Luca Zaia said in Venice. "We are convinced, and I hope Rome understands, that this is not the wish of a political party. These are the wishes of the people."
In Milan, his counterpart in Lombardy, Roberto Maroni, said that with the votes, the two regions "can unify our forces so we can do the battle of the century." The two leaders say they will meet with their regional councils to finalize their requests before going to Rome to meet with Premier Paolo Gentiloni.
Unlike in Catalonia, the referendums do not seek independence and were approved by Italy's constitutional court. Still, the autonomy drive is a powerful threat to Rome's authority. Together, Veneto and Lombardy account for 30 percent of Italy's GDP and nearly one-quarter of the nation's electorate.
Maroni said an overwhelming 95 percent of his region's vote went to "yes," with turnout above 40 percent of Lombardy's 8 million voters. That far exceeded the bar for success that he set at 34 percent, which was the turnout for a national referendum on constitutional reform in 2001.
Independence-minded Veneto easily met a turnout threshold to validate the vote set by Zaia, with some 60 percent of the region's 4 million voters casting ballots. According to early returns, 98 percent voted "yes."
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