Diseases recognise no borders, but somehow, two and a half months after coronavirus emerged in eastern China at the end of 2019, it is now Italy, 5,400 miles away, that has the second-highest number of cases.

Italy was among the very first countries to stop direct flights to China, schools in the north of the country closed on 24 February, and universities and all other schools were shut at the beginning of March.

But, despite containment efforts, the number of people infected jumped to 9,172 on Monday, while the death toll rose to 463.

The virus is now in every region of the country, but 85 per cent of the cases and more than 90 per cent of the deaths have been in the north.

The surge in cases prompted the Italian government to approve further emergency measures, which, as of Monday morning, significantly limit the movement of 16 million people, mostly in the north of the country.

The lockdown applies to everyone in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces who will now require special permission to travel. Milan and Venice are both affected.

When news of the quarantine plan was leaked to the media on Saturday evening, it sparked panic, with many people swiftly attempting to flee the lockdown in the north.

Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Show all 16 1 /16 Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondoliers wait for customers in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondoliers wait for customers in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A man wearing a protective mask walks past the Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A gondolier on the Grand Canal as the sun sets in Venice, Italy, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Authorities in Italy decided to re-open schools and museums in some of the areas less hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the country which has the most cases outside of Asia, as Italians on Friday yearned for a return to normal life even amid fears that the outbreak could plunge the country's economy into recession. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A local pulls a trolley as she leaves a street food market in Venice, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. A U.S. government advisory urging Americans to reconsider travel to Italy due to the spread of a new virus is the "final blow" to the nation's tourism industry, the head of Italy's hotel federation said Saturday. Venice, which was nearing recovery in the Carnival season following a tourist lull after record flooding in November, saw bookings drop immediately after regional officials canceled the final two days of celebrations this week, unprecedented in modern times. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Locals wait for a mass at the barely empty San Salvador church in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. A coughing Pope Francis told Italy, pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold. It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists wearing protective masks take photographs in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists wearing protective masks look at their smartphones as they have a break at the St. Mark's square in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears A couple stand at the Rialto bridge during a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks as the country's confirmed cases surpassed 1,000. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. Reuters Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty canal is seen after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears An empty water bus after the spread of coronavirus has caused a decline in the number of tourists in Venice, Italy, March 1, 2020. REUTERS Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Tourists shelter against the rain with umbrellas as they walk in the empty St. Mark's Square during a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. AP Streets of Venice empty due to Coronavirus fears Gondolas are parked on a rainy day in Venice, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Italian tourism officials are worrying a new virus could do more damage to their industry than the Sept. 11 terror attacks. AP

According to the new measures, tourists and residents trying to enter or leave the affected areas must provide the authorities with a valid reason for travelling, show identification and provide a telephone number, or they can face fines.

Schools are being closed until 3 April, and public gatherings including all sporting events have been cancelled. Theatres, cinemas and other entertainment venues nationwide have been ordered to suspend their activities, and in the lockdown areas, a strict 7pm curfew for bars and restaurants is operating.

“We want to guarantee the health of our citizens. We understand that these measures will impose sacrifices, sometimes small and sometimes very big,” Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said.

“We are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have to limit the spread of the virus and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed.”

Fabrizio Pregliasco, a virologist at Milan University, said: “The virus is severely testing our health facilities and we need to limit children getting together.”

Speaking to Bloomberg, he said: “Closing schools is a necessary measure because it will help limit the spread.”

Soldiers wearing masks control passengers arriving at the Milan Central railway station on March 9 (AFP/Getty)

Meanwhile, in South Korea, which is the country with the third-most infected people, after Italy overtook it as the second most affected country, officials have today reported 69 new cases — the lowest daily increase in two weeks.

Also in China, there are just 40 new cases — representing the lowest rise since 20 January, with governments largely crediting the slowdown to strict containment.

In an effort to explain the high death rate in Italy, authorities have drawn attention to the country’s ageing population as one of the key causes.

“In the case of the coronavirus, we must consider the fact that Italy has an elderly population, actually much older than the Chinese one, which needs to be protected from the contagion,” Italy’s National Health Institute told Italian news website The Local on Thursday.

Furthermore, the rapid rollout of testing in Italy in recent days has also been cited as a reason why numbers of cases appear to have soared so rapidly.

The World Health Organisation has said overall infections have probably been underreported, given many are asymptomatic or very mild, but Italy has carried out large-scale testing on tens of thousands of people in an effort to thwart the rapidly spreading virus, resulting in a sudden uptick in numbers diagnosed.

For people living in the quarantined Lombardy region of Italy, life is continuing — albeit under the most restrictive limits on movement since the Second World War.

A web developer in the city of Lecco, 30 miles north of Milan, told The Independent that until the number of cases surged over the weekend and the introduction of the travel crackdown was introduced on Monday, he felt the impact of the measures had been less keenly felt.

“This morning things changed,” he said. “There are policemen enforcing [the lockdown] on the streets and at train stations. People can move, but they have to fill out the forms. The bottom line is the government is asking very strongly for people to stay where they are and limit all unnecessary contact.

“Bars and restaurants are open, but there are curfews. They have to close by 7pm. It’s never happened before. If you think these regions are so big, and they are locked down, in Europe, during peacetime. It hasn’t happened before. It is quite mad.”

“But I live in not a big city, and the situation I perceive when I’ve been out to the supermarket is that people are actually quite calm. There has been a bit of complaining, but it’s not like people are freaking out or turning violent.

“You can feel it, even in the house, that there is less noise — less people around, and I wouldn’t have said the same thing last week. Something has visibly changed in the last two days. This thing was fast. In two weeks the situation changed very quickly — but that’s only my perception.”

He added: “In Lecco, things are calm, but in Milan, it’s not exactly the same. Services are under strain.”

In the UK, where five people have died and 319 people have been diagnosed with the virus, many are looking to Italy as a guide to what the coming weeks may hold.

On Monday the UK government said people who show “even minor” signs of fever should self isolate for seven days.

Boris Johnson’s administration has been criticised for not taking stronger measures to halt the spread of the disease, such as closing schools and halting flights to Italy, but the prime minister said it was “critical” to take the right decisions at the right time.