Last Updated on March 12, 2020
A tweet showing Italian police officers roaming the streets accompanied by a drone has circulated on social media.
Italy, the worst hit country by the coronavirus in Europe, has reported over 1,000 deaths due to COVID-19.
Harsh prison sentences have been proposed for individuals who break coronavirus isolation.
In a tweet captioned, “#Coronavirus video from Italy: this is what enforcing people to stay home looks like. Police patrolling the streets w/ drones,” scenes reminiscent to leaked footage from quarantined Chinese cities were displayed as police wearing protective clothing were followed by drones to attempt to contain the spread.
https://twitter.com/dailydigger19/status/1238149505872248834
Italy has struggled to prevent the spread of the disease, which has seen schools, shops, and public sporting events shut down as the elderly population takes the brunt of the epidemic as over 15,000 are reportedly infected.
Public services are under massive stress to cater to the growing demand from patients.
Calls to stop providing elderly patients with intensive care have been voiced by medical professionals as scarce medical resources have been stretched to the limit.
President Trump issued a travel suspension for flights to and from the most affected areas of Europe–with the exception of the UK–in order to stem the flow of the contagious COVID-19.
Earlier today, the UK government admitted that it was too late to contain the spread of the virus as PM Boris Johnson warned “many families will lose loved ones,” according to the Daily Telegraph.
The Prime Minister also called the coronavirus the “worst public health crisis for a generation.”
