The governor of Lombardy, the northern region at the epicentre of Italy's
Coronavirus outbreak, said on Wednesday that he had been given a
police escort after growing criticism of his administration's handling of the crisis.
Lombardy, Italy's richest and most populous region and the motor of its
economy, is one of the worst affected areas of the world by the coronavirus, accounting for around half of the country's more than 32,000 dead.
The regional government, controlled by opposition leader Matteo Salvini's anti-immigrant League party, has seen approval ratings plunge amid angry attacks on its response and on health sector reforms by previous League governments that many say left the region badly prepared to face the epidemic.