COVID: Lombardy ER chief calls for national lockdown

(ANSA) - MILAN, OCT 27 - The head of Lombardy's ERs on Tuesday called for a national COVID lockdown saying the situation in A&E's across the country was "dramatic".
    With infection curves exponential, said Guiso Bertolini, "the only thing to do is to close everything, a lockdown at a national level".
    He said "the situation in ERs is dramatic, not only in Lombardy but everywhere, at a national level.
    "If we want to stop the epidemic, now is the time to close everything, there is no other way.
    "If something had been done earlier, when it should have been done, we could have taken softer measures, but now we can't go on and the measures taken by the government are too bland.
    "They aren't capable of containing the monstrous phenomenon we are faced with".
    But Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana said current measures were enough to prevent a full-blown lockdown.
    The government has ordered bars and restaurants to stop serving customers at six p.m. and closed gyms, swimming pools, cinemas and theatres. (ANSA).