Italy to use army to enforce coronavirus lockdown in worst-hit region

FILE PHOTO: Italian military trucks drive through streets of Bergamo after the army were deployed to move coffins from the town, which is at the centre of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, to neighbouring provinces after funeral services were overwhelmed, in Bergamo, Italy, March 18, 2020. Sergio Agazzi.Fotogramma via REUTERS

ROME (Reuters) - The president of Lombardy said on Friday the government had agreed to deploy the army in his region to enforce the lockdown against the coronavirus epidemic, which is not slowing down.

"(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," Attilio Fontana told a news conference.