Italy is counting on soldiers to enforce lockdown as the country grapples to contain the virus which has 627 lives in 24 hours.
Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe and outside China, has 47,021 cases of COVID-19 with 4,032 fatalities.
RELATED STORY: Southern Italy prepares for tsunami of new COVID-19 cases
Attilio Fontana, president of the Lombardy region, announced Friday that the government has agreed that military would be drafted to help enforce lockdown.
“(The request to use the army) has been accepted… and 114 soldiers will be on the ground throughout Lombardy… it is still too little, but it is positive. Unfortunately, we are not seeing a change of trend in the numbers, which are rising,” Fontana said.
According to a CNN report, an Italian nurse said the situation in hospitals in the northern region is dire to the point that they no longer counting the dead.
READ ON: Italy death toll tally highest in a day among nations
Some patients who need intensive care are being sent in other parts of the country.
Health workers are struggling to keep up with the contagion as they are running out of equipment and space to administer patients diagnosed with the virus.
