EU leaders will seek a coordinated response to the coronavirus after Italy sealed off much of its industrial north , where six prisoners were killed in a riot over curbs on visits.
EU leaders will hold a teleconference to discuss their next moves, European Council President Charles Michel said, with one official saying the call was likely to take place on Tuesday. “We need to cooperate in order to protect the health of our citizens,” Mr. Michel, who chairs EU summits, tweeted.
In little more than two weeks, the number of recorded coronavirus cases in Italy has surged to 7,375, with 366 deaths, the second-highest death toll after China's, putting its health system under huge strain.
More than 1,10,000 people have been infected in 105 countries and territories, and 3,800 have died, the vast majority in mainland China, according to a Reuters tally.
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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said strict European Union borrowing limits should be loosened and the flexibility envisaged by EU budget rules should be used “in full”.
“Europe cannot think of confronting an extraordinary situation with ordinary measures,” he said.
Italy's prison administration said six inmates had died in a prison riot in the northern town of Modena over new restrictions on visits.
Series of rebellions
“There have been a series of rebellions across the country,” said Francesco Basentini, head of the authority. Video aired on TV showed police and fire trucks outside the prison as black smoke swirled into the sky.
With Italy's economy already on the brink of recession, bars and restaurants in Lombardy were ordered to close or to restrict entry and maintain a distance of at least a metre between people on their premises.
At the weekend, people had queued outside supermarkets to buy food and there was widespread confusion about what exceptions might apply to rules saying people could travel only for proven work reasons or emergencies.
The rules do not stop people going to and from work or prevent goods deliveries, and Switzerland left its border open for the thousands of Italians who commute from Lombardy into the neighbouring Swiss canton of Ticino every day.
The virus emerged in China in December but has since spread around the world.
