Piedmont Regional Governor Alberto Cirio was confirmed positive for nCoV, making him the second regional leader of Italy infected with the virus within the past 24 hours.

The Piedmont region is located in northwestern Italy with the capital of the city of Turin. This is the 4th most heavily affected area by Covid-19 in the country.

Before Cirio, Lazio governor Nicola Zingaretti, 54, announced on March 7 that he was infected with nCoV. However, he said he was fine and would "stay home for a few days" and "continue to keep track of the work to be done". Zingaretti has also been a leader of the Democratic Party (PD) since 2019. This party, together with the 5-Star Movement (M5S), makes up the ruling coalition government of Italy.

Italy is currently the largest Covid-19 drive in Europe and the fourth largest in the world after China, South Korea and Iran with nearly 5,900 nCoV infections and more than 230 deaths. Health authorities say the average age of people who die of nCoV in Italy is 81, of which 28% are women and most have underlying medical conditions.

Italy today imposed a blockade, banning people from entering or leaving the Lombardy region, the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as 11 provinces in the Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont and Marche regions except in emergencies.