NE NEWS SERVICE
ROME, FEB 24
The number of coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped to over 100, the president of the Lombardy region said on Sunday, as northern towns struggle to contain rising infections.
More than 100 cases have now been reported throughout the country, said Attilio Fontana, with 89 of those in Lombardy, centred around the small town of Codogno, 70 km southeast of Milan.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday announced that 11 towns in Italy’s north would be placed under quarantine, affecting about 50,000 people.
Health officials reported isolated cases in the neighbouring regions of Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, saying the total number of known infections in Italy had risen to above 130. Two elderly people have died in the past 48 hours from the illness.
Patient Zero
Health authorities are struggling to work out how the outbreak started. The first cases were announced only on Friday and doctors do not know the source of the illness.
Initial suspicion in Lombardy fell on a businessman recently returned from China, but he has tested negative. – Agencies
