Suddenly the coronavirus does not seem remote to Ireland and it is no longer just a cause of wonder. The weekend events in Italy carry a big lesson for Ireland and all nations.

We all need to exercise the greatest care. In recent days there have been three deaths attributed to the virus and more than 150 confirmed cases in Italy.

The disease, now officially called "Covid 19", was first detected in China late last year.

By now it has spread to many parts of the world, challenging the best doctors and public health administrators.

Some 2,400 people have died from the virus across the world.

There are in total 80,000 believed to be infected and the bulk of these is in China.

But it has come to Italy and that tells us it could very easily come to this country too.

The situation in Italy has caused real fear and put a huge strain on policing and public health authorities who are trying to maintain order and a sense of calm in their responses. A mounting number of infections has prompted the authorities to put tens of thousands of people under lockdown.

By yesterday evening a quarantine had been effectively placed upon 11 villages. A total of 50,000 people in about a dozen towns have been told not to leave their local area. Most of the action is around the town of Codogno, about 70km from Milan in northern Italy.

Milan is the fashion and banking centre of Italy and the biggest city in the region of Lombardy. It is here that most suspected cases have been reported and doubtless the economic consequences of quarantining will soon be felt there and elsewhere in the EU.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has frankly told the nation that the precautions could continue for several weeks. Enough time must be allowed for any potential infection to incubate.

The consequences of not taking radical preventative action are unconscionable. And let's hope the Irish authorities are closely monitoring what is happening in Italy.

Nobody wants to engender any sense of panic now or at any other time. But there must be real questions about our preparedness to deal with a very real threat. Disease has no respect for political borders and we must be ready to minimise things and act swiftly.

In Italy its storied pre-Lent carnival has been curtailed as have top-class soccer matches in the elite Serie A. In some places people are only being allowed enter supermarkets in small groups.

People about to enter some quarantined areas are being told by police that if they go in they will not be permitted to come back out. There will be heavy fines and even imprisonment for people found in violation of the quarantine rules.

At the same time thousands of beds are being planned for isolated places like military barracks or hotels to house people stricken with the virus.

This is distressing and appears draconian - but it is hard to see what else the authorities can do. The key goal has to be preventing it from spreading.