The fears spread to LombardyвЂ™s capital, Milan, ItalyвЂ™s financial hub, where the final two runway shows of Milan Fashion Week scheduled for Monday were canceled. Later, groups of four at a time were allowed into the bakery in nearby Casalpusterlengo, and one at a time into the pharmacy. Residents wearing face masks and gloves lined up at CodognoвЂ™s supermarket to stock up on food, only to find out the market was still closed on orders of the mayor. On Monday, police wearing face masks manned checkpoints along the road into Codogno, southeast of Milan, where the first patient to test positive for the virus was hospitalized last week. Italy, however, wasnвЂ™t taking chances and effectively sealed off a dozen northern Italian towns where more than 150 of the cases were found. But she stressed that the majority of cases likely wouldnвЂ™t even require a doctorвЂ™s visit and that ItalyвЂ™s numbers are вЂњvery analogous to what we will see in many other European countries.вЂќ вЂњIt is likely that the more we look, the more we will find,вЂќ Capua said.

Speaking on state-run RAI news, virologist Ilaria Capua of the University of Florida noted that ItalyвЂ™s high number of cases were due to the fact that Italy was вЂњactively seeking them out.вЂќ More than 3,000 people have been tested for the virus, most of whom had direct contact with those infected. The five people who died with coronavirus were all elderly and two of them had other serious ailments. While Italian authorities canceled soccer matches, Masses and closed schools, theaters and even VeniceвЂ™s famed Carnival, they also sought to calm fears by noting the virusвЂ™ low mortality rate and the far higher number of Italians who have died from the seasonal flu this year. To date, Africa only has one confirmed case, in Egypt. But the island nation has been more assertive than its African counterparts in trying to keep the virus out, announcing quarantines for passengers arriving from the Chinese city of Wuhan or displaying symptoms. Many Italians are travelling this week for the midwinter school holiday, and Mauritius is a popular destination. The Italian foreign ministry said it was working to provide вЂњmaximum assistance to Italians on boardвЂќ and Alitalia said it was working to bring those refused entry back to Italy immediately. Alitalia said 40 passengers from Lombardy and Veneto were told they would only be allowed off if they went into quarantine locally, even though none complained of symptoms.

In France, the government urged anyone who had visited Lombardy or Veneto - the two most affected Italian regions - to wear face masks if they go outside, limit nonessential activities and take their temperatures twice a day.ДЇears stretched as far away as Mauritius, which blocked an Alitalia airplane that had landed overnight from Rome. вЂњWe need to take this situation of course very seriously, but we must not give in to panic, and, even more importantly, to disinformation.вЂќ вЂњThese rapid developments over the weekend have shown how quickly this situation can change,вЂќ EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in Brussels. Officials still hadnвЂ™t pinpointed the origin of ItalyвЂ™s outbreak and were struggling to contain the number of cases, which by Monday had spread to a half-dozen regions and prompted Austria to temporarily halt rail traffic across its border with Italy. It is the highest number of cases outside Asia, and underscores the limits of ItalyвЂ™s prevention protocols, which are the most stringent in Europe.

Italians traveling abroad were already feeling the effects of a crackdown, with a bus from Milan barricaded by police in the French city of Lyon for health checks and Alitalia passengers arriving in Mauritius threatened with quarantine.Д¬ivil protection officials said 219 people had tested positive for the virus in Italy and five people had died, including two elderly men in northern Lombardy. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.Д¬ODOGNO, Italy (AP) - Police manned checkpoints around quarantined towns in ItalyвЂ™s north on Monday and residents stocked up on food as the country became the focal point of the outbreak in Europe and fears of its cross-border spread.

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