Coronavirus leaves bodies in the street in Italy but oblivious Brits STILL ignoring advice to head out in their droves
THE coronavirus is leaving people collapsed in the streets of Italy - but oblivious Brits continue to ignore self-isolation advice and head out in their droves.
Chilling pictures from Rome on Sunday showed a man lying unconscious at a bus stop while in London people visited the city's parks and crowded public transport.
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The man was later seen being loaded into the back of an ambulance, though his current condition is not clear.
The images come after it emerged that the UK death toll from the coronavirus is just two weeks behind that in Italy.
The outbreak has now claimed at least 281 lives in the UK, exceeding the 233 that had died in Italy as of March 7.
In the 16 days since, the toll in Italy has risen to 5,476, including 651 new deaths on Sunday alone.
Speaking at a press conference last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Brits that tougher restrictions on movement would have to be brought in if they didn't follow the government's social distancing guidelines.
"If you don't do it responsibly... we will have to bring forward further measures," he said.
"Even if you think you're personally invulnerable there are people you can infect."
The government has asked people to work remotely and avoid going out if at all possible, to quarantine themselves if they or anyone in their household is showing symptoms, and to maintain a gap of two metres from others in public places.
Reports have previously suggested that the government is considering putting parts of the country into full lockdown if the spread of the virus continues to accelerate.
The PM also spoke about the desperate situation now unfolding in the Italian health system, and warned that the NHS could soon be in a similar position if Brits continue flout government advice.
"Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread - then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed," he said.
"The Italians have a superb health-care system.
"And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand."
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Italy has now seen more deaths from the pandemic than any other nation, while Sunday saw its number of confirmed cases rise by 5,560 to 59,138.
The vast majority of deaths have occurred in the northern region of Lombardy, where there are reports of medical staff without the resources or staff to properly treat critically ill patients, and of officials unable to cope with the flow of bodies.
The army has had to be drafted in to take bodies to cemeteries already struggling to process the dead.
Photos taken in Bergamo show a convoy of military vehicles loaded with the coffins of those killed by the virus.
Speaking to , Connor McAnish, a British doctor working on an intensive care unit in the region, described an "endless stream" of patients.
"They’ve had to build a tent outside the hospital [and] there are burials about every 30 minutes in the cemetery," he said.
HOW ARE LOCKDOWNS BEING ENFORCED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES?
Countries around the world are now enforcing lockdowns and nationwide quarantines, but the punishments for flouting them vary from place-to-place
In Spain, residents face fines starting from £90 or even imprisonment if they disobey authorities.
A total of 350 arrests have been made and 31,000 fines handed out to people flouting the restrictions.
One couple caught having sex in a car told police they shared a flat with too many people to get intimate under lockdown, while another four people were fined after being caught taking it in turns to take the same dog for a walk.
The government has also said that any company that can help in the extra production of diagnosis material and protective equipment like masks, glasses, or gloves must contact them or face a fine.
Authorities in China, the first country in the world to report cases, earlier deployed a fleet of drones through which they could talk to people and encourage them to go home.
They also set up checkpoints on the streets and at the entrance of residence buildings where people had to get their temperature checked before passing.
In Italy, Europe's worst-hit country, authorities so far charged over 40,000 people with ignoring the lockdown.
The face fines of £190 and three-month prison terms.
In France, anyone caught outside without justification is being given a fine equivalent to £128, while repeat offenders face detention and ultimately imprisonment.
President Emmanuel Macron this week expressed concern that people were not understanding the severity of the crisis.
In Australia, fines as high as £25,000 could be handed out to people failing to isolate themselves appropriately.
"With so many patients coming in, when someone dies it’s almost as if we say, 'Okay we couldn’t do anything for this person, now we can take another person and see if their condition will improve'.”
Response systems are also receiving in excess of 2,500 emergency calls per day.
Countries around Europe have been forced to introduce draconian measures to try to stop the epidemic taking hold.
In Spain and France as well as Italy, full lockdowns are in place, with residents only allowed to leave their homes for essential tasks like buying food and medical supplies.
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Police and the army are patrolling the streets to enforce the measures, and anyone found out of their home without good reason faces fines or imprisonment.
The coronavirus has infected more than 343,000 people globally and killed at least 15,308 since first breaking out in late December.
