The Italian government has extended its lockdown in place to combat the Coronavirus emergency until Apr 13.
The quarantine measures had been due to end on Apr 3, however it was widely expected that they would be extended.
The extension was annonunced by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte who said that this Easter, unfortunately, Italy has to face the battle against the virus and that the only way to win is to respect the quaratine measures.
"If we started to relax the rules, all our sacrifices would be in vain and we would pay a very high price," Conte said.
The news comes as the latest figures released by Italy's civil protection agency revealed that 13,155 people have died since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Italy's health minister Roberto Speranza told reporters earlier on Wednesday (Apr 1) : “Experts say we are on the right track, and that the drastic measures taken are starting to give results,” but warned “we must not drop our guard."
