the Italian government announced today
it is imposing strict new rules to
prevent the spread of coronavirus we're
going to show you a shot of Milan
they're the country's normally bustling
financial capital essentially unlocked
down about 16 million people in northern
Italy will be placed under a travel ban
for a month it's the toughest attempt to
contain the virus outside of China and
the first time such a measure has been
taken in Europe in centuries Megan
Williams has the details from Rome
these are drastic and massive measures
for Italy as you mentioned we're talking
16 million people that have essentially
been put into quarantine
now the areas that have been shut off
are in northern Italy Lombardia which is
the region around the city of Milan and
14 other cities and areas around there
so these are people who now cannot enter
or leave those areas they've also been
told to not move within them too much
unless they absolutely have to to get to
work or for health emergencies gyms
schools universities all sorts of places
where people congregate have been fully
shut down restaurants are open till 6
o'clock but people have been told as
they have been told across the country
to keep at least a meters distance from
other people now the biggest concern
about this this drastic and necessary
measure is the impact on the Italian
economy Italy still has not fully
recovered from the recession ten years
ago it has struggled in and out of
shrinkage and experts are saying this
will definitely lead to Italy entering
another recession that area in northern
Italy that is now essentially under
lockdown comprises about a third of the
country's GDP so to have that economy
frozen even just for a month
is-is-is is a massive impact on the
whole of Italy
Megan Williams CBC News Rome we're going
to turn now to Layla B chair she is a
pharmacist who is affected by this
lockdown and we've reached her near
Milan
so much for joining us Leyla me our
pleasure let's talk about what the
lockdown is like in your town well I
live in Casa lingo which is one of
the the second town that got in lockdown
two weeks ago we are sorry now our third
week and during the night these this
lockdown spread to the whole region so
the whole lombardi now is in lockdown
for me personally it it's necessary I
think it was necessary
way before when we started our lockdown
I think everybody the whole Ridge region
should have been put in lockdown back in
and we're not panicking we are we're
doing good we're holding our positions
and we understand that is necessary so
we do so it's a lockdown so when we use
the term lockdown what does that mean
for a daily life what do you do for
shopping and for food and and do you not
go out of your house at all just
describe what a typical day is like for
you and your family okay for me it's
still pretty much the same because I'm a
pharmacist and pharmacies kept been
opened for the whole time so I never
stopped worth working for my husband he
stopped in this two weeks because we
were in the red zone now the red zone is
the whole region so now things are
changing because we are going back to
normal activities even though they are
very strict we are allowed to leave our
houses could you in order to get the
basic things done so get food get
medicine and now we can go to work but
we are we have to keep distance while we
work and we have to we have rules to
follow so mass and the distance and we
are we have to avoid the get together in
big groups congregate
and the main apart the the that means
the main part of this this lockdown is
to have kids at home because schools are
closed and they're gonna be closed till
April the 3rd so that's gonna be a
problem because my husband is going back
to work I'm working still we've done we
haven't figured out how to do it twins
yet we're not sure who's gonna take care
of them because my parents are 25
kilometres from here and they could take
care of them but it's better if they
don't move
come here and we do move the twins to go
there so it's it's hard it's the
situation exactly here now as a
pharmacist you must be dealing with
people every day who are concerned about
their health what sort of reaction are
you getting from people and especially
your customers now people are afraid
because the cases of infections
infection increase during these weeks
and our sanity our hospitals are full
our intensive care units are getting
full there are really few spots open so
now it's it's it's a pretty situation it
is really so I I if I if I please would
you would let me I would take people
stay at your house for real this is this
is this is important to people not to
get together and stay at their houses I
ask you one more quick question how you
are doing emotionally I'm coping with it
trying to I'm trying to stay positive
because stress is not good for our
health so I'm trying to stay positive
I'm very loose lucid about the situation
and focus on how to act because every
single action of every single person
matters now so we have to be responsible
and think before we act and be
responsible about what we do
we're really sorry that's okay I'm sorry
we have to let you go there but later I
want to thank you for your time I really
appreciate it you're welcome
Libby cherry is a pharmacist and she
lives near Milan