Photos: #Coronavirus kills 2 in Italy

A dozen towns in Italy went into lockdown on Saturday, with 50,000 people were asked to stay indoors, after the deaths and a growing number of cluster cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.

The secondary contagions prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to close schools, businesses and restaurants and to cancel sporting events and Masses. The mayor of Milan, Italy's business capital and the regional capital of Lombardy, shut public offices.

A 78-year-old man infected with the virus died in Veneto.
A post-mortem on a 77-year-old woman in Lombardy came back positive, though it was not clear if illness from the virus caused her death. Retired bricklayer Adriano Trevisan, 78, passed away in a hospital in Padua on Friday evening after having been admitted to the hospital for another health issue ten days ago, said local authorities.

The second patient to die was an elderly woman whose death has triggered the closing down of shops, offices and community centres in Casalpusterlengo, according to Italian news agency Ansa.

Adriano Trevisan, 78