Coronavirus: 'We're ready to close Piedmont', governor says

(ANSA) - Turin, March 11 - Piedmont is ready to close for the coronavirus emergency, the region's Governor Alberto Cirio told radio 24 on Wednesday.
    If the central government "will decide that Lombardy will take this step, I think Piedmont will need to be included in some way" referring Lombardy's request for tougher measures to combat the virus in Italy's worst-hit region.
    If the words of Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana "go in the direction of closing everything, I think that great attention should be placed on this thought", Cirio said.
    The Piedmont governor says he has asked the regional scientific committee and crisis unit to forward its opinion on the proposal to the government on Wednesday. Fontana on Tuesday urged stricter coronavirus measures than the all-Italy lockdown the government has enacted.
    Fontana said "all 12 mayors in Lombardy's most affected areas have asked me to ask the government to step up the measures".
    He said non-essential shops and commercial activities should be shut, local public transport should be stopped, as well as "those business activities that can be closed".