Drone video shows empty motorway after Italy goes into coronavirus shutdown

Drone video showed an uneasy calm over the A4 motorway near Milan after the Italian government imposed a lockdown throughout the country in its latest attempt to contain a growing outbreak of coronavirus.

The urban section of the A4 motorway and the junctions connecting with the A8 motorway, usually the busiest motorway sections in the whole Lombardy, were deserted.

Italy is the second worst hit country in the world after China, where the illness first emerged late last year, and the outbreak has shown no signs of slowing, with 24,747 cases and 1,809 deaths by Sunday.

Last week the government imposed nationwide restrictions to curb the virus spread, closing schools, shops and sporting events and ordering people to stay home, except for essential travel.