An empty street in the Porta Nuova district is seen, on the sixth day of an unprecedented lockdown across of all Italy imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus in Milan, Italy March 15, 2020.
Citizens of some of Europe's largest cities are still under adjustment period in living a new way of life mostly confined inside their houses after governments of France, the Netherlands, Spain and others joined Italy in imposing restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across Europe, Italy holds the highest number of infections and deaths in the world outside China. On Sunday, Italy recorded its highest one-day death toll rise after recording 368 more coronavirus-related deaths. Thus, this caused more growing concerns over how the country's exhausted healthcare front-liners and resources will be able to cope up with the high number of new cases.
Empty Streets and Hope from Balconies
Recently, a drone footage was showing the usually busy streets and motorway in Barazante, near Milan almost completely empty after the Italian government has imposed a lockdown all over the nation. The video showed the usually packed high ways with only one or two cars passing at a time.
Since the lockdown, Italians have stayed at home and some have spent their time singing from their balconies as a sign of solidarity amid the COVID-19 crisis. The actions of the Italians touched the hearts of people worldwide who appreciated the resilience that the people are showing despite the crisis that the country is currently facing.
Children whose schools have been shut down are also drawing rainbows on their window sills in order to promote hope.
Lockdown in Italy
Last week, the government if Italy has already ordered a lockdown and has imposed restrictions nationwide in efforts to control the continued spread of the virus.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has previously warned that the virus will be widespread and serious, however, he also indicated that there are no further bans that are needed to be put in place as long as people "scrupulously" follow and respect the restrictions of the existing ones.
On Monday, the government said that it plans to allocate an additional 25 billion euros which are about $27 billion in order to up its efforts in combating COVID-19 and aid the healthcare front-liners who are working despite the limited resources available.
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Prime Minister Conte also said that scientists have informed that the outbreak has not yet reached its peak thus there is a need to take maximum precaution in the next few weeks. Authorities have already filed complaints against those who are violating the restrictions and guidelines of the lockdown, the number of violators has already reached 20,000 people according to the Ministry of the Interior.
According to Angelo Borrelli, Italy's chief of the Department of Civil Protection, as of Monday, Italy's total number of cases has risen to 27,980 which includes those who have recovered and those who have died in the hands of the virus. Out of this number, 23,000 have remained infected and there are only about 11,000 who are hospitalized, of which about 2,000 are under intensive care. Others have remained in isolation and are being monitored from inside their homes.
Related article: Italians Sing from Balconies as a Symbol of Solidarity Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
