Italy's government plans to place large parts of the north in coronavirus lockdown as Italian cases soared past 200 on Saturday and the Vatican announced Pope Francis's Angelus prayer would be livestreamed.
In an unprecedented move echoing China's shutdown of its Hubei province at the start of global outbreak, a draft government plan obtained by an Italian newspaper said
Italy intended to quarantine the entire Lombardy region around Milan, as well as tourist magnet Venice, Parma and Rimini, in northern Italy.
The quarantine decision was "imminent", Corriere Della Sera reported, as the number of cases worldwide rose to over 100,000 with 3,500 dead across 95 nations and territories.