Italy in Lockdown

[sofsolnanny]

Italy to quarantine entire Lombardy region plus Venice and other areas. The Independent 16 minutes ago.

[Até]

MSC's USA update now states no person can board the ship if they have traveled anywhere in Italy in the past 14 days, no longer just certain Northern Italian areas.  I guess that will stop any further Italian port visits too.

 

We are denying boarding to anyone from high-risk areas:
 

• Anyone who has traveled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea and Italy (or transited via airports) in the past 14 days, or visited, will be denied access to the ship. The same rules apply to such passengers’ travel companions (parent, spouse, child, siblings, or a companion who shares a stateroom) PLEASE NOTE: Travelers choosing to travel with their Italian passport but residing elsewhere must show official proof of residency. Residency must not be in one of the above countries. Travel history must also show that travelers did not come through one of those territories during the past 14 days;

Edited March 7, 2020 by Até

[aprilF]

Yet, apparently embarking in Italy is just fine.

[sidari]

1 minute ago, aprilF said:

Yet, apparently embarking in Italy is just fine.

But not likely after Monday.

[aprilF]

1 minute ago, sidari said:

But not likely after Monday.

:fingerscrossed: and :holdingbreath:

[wirral36]

I really hope that stays that way for next few months. I’d feel much happier knowing no one from Italy can embark. I know it sounds bad. I wonder where the new ports of call will be though as there are 3 Italy ports of call for our cruise. 

[wirral36]

1 hour ago, Até said:

MSC's USA update now states no person can board the ship if they have traveled anywhere in Italy in the past 14 days, no longer just certain Northern Italian areas.  I guess that will stop any further Italian port visits too.

 

We are denying boarding to anyone from high-risk areas:
 

• Anyone who has traveled to, from or through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea and Italy (or transited via airports) in the past 14 days, or visited, will be denied access to the ship. The same rules apply to such passengers’ travel companions (parent, spouse, child, siblings, or a companion who shares a stateroom) PLEASE NOTE: Travelers choosing to travel with their Italian passport but residing elsewhere must show official proof of residency. Residency must not be in one of the above countries. Travel history must also show that travelers did not come through one of those territories during the past 14 days;

Interestingly, it’s not on UK site. It still says that as long as you’re not from or travelled through the 10 towns of quarantine that it’s business as usual from Italy. I wonder why it’s different in USA 

[Até]

26 minutes ago, wirral36 said:

Interestingly, it’s not on UK site. It still says that as long as you’re not from or travelled through the 10 towns of quarantine that it’s business as usual from Italy. I wonder why it’s different in USA 

I was on the MSC US website and noticed they were actively making changes to pages, so went to look.  At first it caught my eye because it was dated February 7, then suddenly changed to March 6, now the homepage states March 3 again.  I figure it's a new policy being enacted.

[8420PR]

In my opinion: If you have a vacation booked take it.   

 

Possible scenario 1:  There is evidence of community transmission on the East and West Coast.  We don't know how many US citizens are currently infected.

 

Possible scenario 2:   There are only 300 cases of Coronavirus in US, and we only need to test those people who have traveled from abroad recently.

[HappyInVan]

Anyone know why the death rate in Italy is so high. 5,900  infected and 233 dead. That 4%! Much higher than Iran or anywhere else in Europe. In fact, its higher than China at this point.

 

 

[gtaylor]

29 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

Anyone know why the death rate in Italy is so high. 5,900  infected and 233 dead. That 4%! Much higher than Iran or anywhere else in Europe. In fact, its higher than China at this point.

 

 

3.4% Mortality Rate estimate by the World Health Organization (WHO) as of March 3

[HappyInVan]

9 minutes ago, gtaylor said:

3.4% Mortality Rate estimate by the World Health Organization (WHO) as of March 3

 

 

That number is skewed by the large numbers out of China. The death rate is much much lower for Rest Of The World and Rest of Europe.

[HappyInVan]

Serious Serious! Containment failed in Italy. IMO, spring cruise season is cancelled. From CNBC blog...

 

"Coronavirus live updates: Italy locks down a quarter of its population ...

 

11:45 am: Italy locks down a quarter of its population
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced early Sunday that the entire region of Lombardy and a number of provinces in other regions were put under lockdown as the coronavirus continued to spread throughout the country.

The new measures will apply to about a quarter of the Italian population and will be in force at least until April 3.

In the middle of the night, Conte signed a decree that imposes new restrictions to the movement of people in the region of Lombardy and in a number of northern provinces. The entry and exit to and from these areas will be allowed only in exceptional cases.

Italy on Saturday saw its biggest daily jump — by 1,247 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 5,883. Another 36 people also died as a result of the virus, taking the total to 233. — AP"

[teddyd33]

6 hours ago, Até said:

I was on the MSC US website and noticed they were actively making changes to pages, so went to look.  At first it caught my eye because it was dated February 7, then suddenly changed to March 6, now the homepage states March 3 again.  I figure it's a new policy being enacted.

 

We will have to wait and see then. 

 

If they are banning anyone travelling through Milan, then why is it fine to do this for future cruises, but not on the cruise I was supposed to take last week in which I would have had to travel through Northern Italy to Genoa. Hopefully this will help my case in trying to get some sort of refund for all of the lost airfares and cruise fare...

 

Also, I saw on the news today Italy is now banning anyone travelling out of Milan into areas like Genoa, so it would be interesting to see how people will be able to get back home when the leave in Genoa (and given most people would go to Milan airport). 

 

 

[Number34]

7 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Anyone know why the death rate in Italy is so high. 5,900  infected and 233 dead. That 4%! Much higher than Iran or anywhere else in Europe. In fact, its higher than China at this point.

 

 

Italian population has higher proportion of elderly people compared to most other countries so this is reflected in the higher death rate. 

[HappyInVan]

2 minutes ago, Number34 said:

Italian population has higher proportion of elderly people compared to most other countries so this is reflected in the higher death rate. 

 

Could be a factor. But, the death rate in Rest of Europe is about 0.6%. The difference (>3%) is far too great to be explained by demographics.

[Hampshirejudy]

33 minutes ago, Number34 said:

Italian population has higher proportion of elderly people compared to most other countries so this is reflected in the higher death rate. 

Not surprising with Italy, they are very warm touchy-feely people, as stated last week by an Italian minister. I have Italian friends, always give a very warm greeting, hugging and kissing, it’s their culture.

[ziggyuk]

Mortality rates are very much based on age, this chart was on the BBC on Friday and demonstrates why we need to take great care of our elderly.

 

[EngIceDave]

NBC News
@NBCNews
·
31m
NEW: Italy's coronavirus death toll rises to 366 after authorities announce another 133 deaths, the largest daily rise in reported fatalities in the country since the outbreak began.

[sofsolnanny]

Yikes!  did not know that Germany had that many cases of CV already. I have booked and paid for the Preziosa cruise from Southampton in May--Netherlands and Germany.

Waiting to see if MSC will let me defer my cruise to another date. I believe -from other posts-that they may make an announcement tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[sidari]

Many European countries have cases now.

[Sunshine3601]

8 hours ago, sidari said:

Lockdown ? what nonsense, people are being allowed to leave the affected areas by road, bus and train! and no doubt spreading the disease to wherever they end up! 

Yes I heard roads buses and trains were filled up last night with people traveling to the south to get out before lockdown.  And once they get to southern italy more will be infected I suspect.

[WH_Cruise]

10 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Nothing to do with western ideals. It's about the people and the culture. BTW, the Germans have 1,018 confirmed cases and zero fatality.

 

Same thing and a reason why western society is struggling to and will not contain this.

 

BTW there has been one German death.

[Andrisk123]

We drove yesterday up to the edge of the exclusion zone. We were expecting to see roadblocks or controls in place and we didn’t see anything at all. Cars were going in both directions. It seemed as though the control of this restricted zone is quite loose, and that is a bit difficult to understand. Is this simply too big an area to control and close off in the heart of Europe in this way or are the restrictions gradually coming into place?

Source: BBC News

 

Seems counterintuitive to announce a quarantine and not enforce it in any way and will probably lead to a larger spread of disease than not having a quarantine, since I assume that people who otherwise would have stayed put now are scrambling to get out.

[sidari]

The whole of Italy has been put into Quarantine ! Now what will MSC do ?