rome italy faced an unprecedented lockdown on tuesday that left streets in the capital rome and other cities deserted after the government extended a clampdown across the entire country in a bid to slow europes worst outbreak of the coronavirusthe measures announced late on monday by prime minister giuseppe conte widen steps already taken in the rich northern region of lombardy and parts of neighbouring provinces restricting movement and banning public gatheringscoronavirus outbreak complete coveragethe future of italy is in our hands let us all do our part by giving up something for our collective good conte said in a tweet encouraging people to take personal responsibilitythe latest steps came after data showed the coronavirus outbreak continuing to spread with 9172 positive cases recorded as of monday and 463 deaths heavily concentrated in the prosperous northern regions of lombardy emilia romagna and venetoread our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updatesin rome cars circulated freely under a clear blue sky in the normally trafficclogged centre and commuters could find seats in the usually packed underground system during rush hourrome landmarks including the trevi fountain the pantheon the spanish steps and st peters square in the vatican were closed or empty with police telling tourists to return to their hotelsfor at least the next three weeks people have been told to stay at home if possible moving only for reasons of work health needs or emergencies anyone travelling will have to carry a document declaring their reasons and schools and universities will remain closedoutdoor events including sports fixtures have been suspended while bars and restaurants will have to close from 6 pm shops are allowed to remain open as long as customers maintain a minimum distance of a metre between each otherthe whole of italy is closed now was the headline in corriere della sera the countrys largest circulation dailyin the wake of the clampdown neighbouring austria said it would deny entry to people arriving from italy while british airways cancelled all flights to and from the countrysevere controlsthe measures are some of the most severe controls imposed on a western country since the second world war and already there have been questions about how effectively they can be enforced across a country of 60 million peopleshortly after conte announced them shoppers in rome rushed to latenight supermarkets to stock up on food and basic necessities prompting the government to declare that supplies would be guaranteed and urging people not to panic buyyouve also got the worry that the supermarkets will be emptied out of fear if people keep overbuying there wont be any water left said building superintendent gianni who like many italians drinks bottled waterthey should make people do it with an identity card with one case per family he said refusing to give his surnamein the financial capital milan already under stricter controls the situation was similar with many shops and businesses open but far fewer people than normal on the streetsthe world health organization