Italy is reporting 12,462 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus — up from just over 300 two weeks ago — plus 827 deaths and 1,045 people who recovered from the virus. To give a sense of how fast Italy's epidemic is moving, nearly a quarter of the total deaths — 196 — occurred from Tuesday to Wednesday, Italy's Civil Protection Agency said Wednesday. And 149 of those deaths were in Lombardy, the epicenter of Italy's outbreak and home to Milan, the country's financial capital. In all, 617 people have died of coronavirus in Lombardy.
Efforts to contain the new coronavirus by locking down entire parts of Northern Italy failed, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte put the entire country on lockdown this week. On Wednesday, he announced that the only business allowed to stay open are grocery stores, pharmacies, and other shops selling "essential" items.
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