Italy shuts stores across country to fight virus

Rome: Italy on Wednesday shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a Coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the latest wave of restrictions in a dramatic appeal to the nation that came with the country of 60 million battling its biggest crisis in generations.

"Thank you to all Italians who make sacrifices. We are proving to be a great nation," Conte said in his nine-minute evening prime time address to the nation.

Italians have watched ever tighter restrictions slowly eat away at the very fabric of everyday life.

An existing clampdown on public gathering and basic travel had already emptied streets and shuttered everything from churches to restaurants.

AFP photographers spotted masked sanitation workers in white nylon suits and rubber gloves spraying Florence's deserted Saint Mark's Square with disinfectant through a long hose.

Cathedrals posted hand-written notes cancelling mass and cafes apologised to their regulars for having to turn them away.

"I can't even recognise Rome now," 30-year-old Muscovite Yekaterina said while posing alone for a photo by the usually bustling Trevi Fountain in the heart of Rome.

Conte said the closure of nearly everything that had remained open would run for at least two weeks.

How Italians will get by in the meantime is not entirely clear.

"All shops will be closed except for basic necessities, such as pharmacies and food stores," said Conte.

"Bars, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and canteen services will close. Home delivery is allowed." "No need to rush to buy groceries," he

stressed.