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Italy to close all shops except pharmacies, food stores

Rome

Italy will close all shops, bars and restaurants, except pharmacies and food stores, as part of further efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.

Conte urges Italians not to lose hope, warns that contagion numbers may still go up for a while, and says it will likely take weeks before the outbreak abates, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.

"All together we will make it," he said.