Lockdown battle in Italy: Army is sent in after residents quarantined in apartment block throw furniture from balconies, prompting furious locals to attack their vehicles in retaliation

  • 700 people were ordered to stay indoors in four council housing blocks in Mondragone, 60km north of Naples
  • Most are Bulgarians working in agriculture; authorities want to test them for Covid-19 in the virus 'red zone'
  • Police and army were sent in to secure hot spot, which has 49 virus cases, after residents tried to flee the area

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An angry resident quarantined in a council block threw a wooden chair off the balcony of a high-rise apartment in a coronavirus 'red zone' in Italy today.

He was one of 700 people ordered to remain indoors in four council housing blocks in Mondragone - 60km north of Naples on the coast in the Campania region - since Monday, while local health authorities test them for the virus, Rai news said. 

Most of those living there are Bulgarians who work in agriculture. 

A group of Italian protesters responded to the furniture-hurling by throwing stones at the Bulgarians' cars and smashing the windows.

The police and army were sent in to secure the Covid hot spot - which has 49 cases of the virus - after frustrated residents attempted to escape from the blocks.

A furious resident quarantined in a council block in Italy threw a chair off the balcony of a high-rise apartment in a coronavirus 'red zone' today. Most of those living there are Bulgarians who work in agriculture

A furious resident quarantined in a council block in Italy threw a chair off the balcony of a high-rise apartment in a coronavirus 'red zone' today. Most of those living there are Bulgarians who work in agriculture

The man was one of 700 people ordered to stay indoors in four council housing blocks in Mondragone - 60km north of Naples on the coast in the Campania region - since Monday, while local health authorities test them for Covid-19

The man was one of 700 people ordered to stay indoors in four council housing blocks in Mondragone - 60km north of Naples on the coast in the Campania region - since Monday, while local health authorities test them for Covid-19

Three residents in the blocks, which used to be owned by food group Cirio, vent their anger at the crowds below today

Three residents in the blocks, which used to be owned by food group Cirio, vent their anger at the crowds below today

The army was sent in to secure the Covid hot spot - which has 49 cases of the virus - after frustrated residents attempted to leave their apartments

The army was sent in to secure the Covid hot spot - which has 49 cases of the virus - after frustrated residents attempted to leave their apartments

The region's head Vincenzo De Luca called for back-up from the army. New cases, including those who are asymptomatic, are being transferred to a local hospital. (It is not known if those pictured have displayed symptoms)

The region's head Vincenzo De Luca called for back-up from the army. New cases, including those who are asymptomatic, are being transferred to a local hospital. (It is not known if those pictured have displayed symptoms)

Italian police and army personnel surround the red zone. Several of the 49 residents who have tested positive for coronavirus so far have since gone missing

Italian police and army personnel surround the red zone. Several of the 49 residents who have tested positive for coronavirus so far have since gone missing

Ten scientists in Italy on Wednesday released a joint statement declaring the coronavirus emergency to be 'over'. Above, the scene in Mondragone on Thursday

Ten scientists in Italy on Wednesday released a joint statement declaring the coronavirus emergency to be 'over'. Above, the scene in Mondragone on Thursday

One group ducked under the police tape cordoning off the complex on Thursday and had to be marched back in by police. 

The region's head Vincenzo De Luca called for back-up from the army, which he said was on its way.

New cases, including those who are asymptomatic, are being transferred to a local hospital. 

But several of the 49 people who have tested positive so far have since gone missing.

Some were undocumented workers who feared losing their jobs, said Rai.

It was not the only cluster of new cases in Italy, which lifted its lockdown at the start of June after three months of a pandemic which has officially killed more than 34,600 people. 

Crowds gather at the base of the apartments. Some Italian protesters responded to the furniture-hurling residents by throwing stones at the Bulgarians' cars and smashing their windows

Crowds gather at the base of the apartments. Some Italian protesters responded to the furniture-hurling residents by throwing stones at the Bulgarians' cars and smashing their windows

One group ducked under the police tape cordoning off the complex on Thursday and had to be marched back in by police

One group ducked under the police tape cordoning off the complex on Thursday and had to be marched back in by police

Italian scientists are concerned that there may be a second wave of coronavirus if people let down their guards. (Above, an aerial view of the Mondragone apartments overlooking the coast)

Italian scientists are concerned that there may be a second wave of coronavirus if people let down their guards. (Above, an aerial view of the Mondragone apartments overlooking the coast)

Another set has emerged at a warehouse in Bologna used by express courier Bartolini.

The company uncovered 44 asymptomatic cases - including two drivers - after testing all workers at the warehouse in central-northern Italy following the discovery of two members of staff with the virus, the Resto del Carlino daily said.

Bartolini (BRT) has closed the warehouse although deliveries continue. 

It was expected to test all staff who have come into contact with those with the virus, the daily said.

Ten scientists in Italy on Wednesday released a joint statement declaring the coronavirus emergency to be 'over'. 

That sparked a heated reaction from colleagues who warned a second wave was likely if people let down their guard.

Coronavirus is found in sewage water that was circulating in Italy in DECEMBER, six weeks before the country's first confirmed case

Scientists in Italy have found traces of coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019.

It suggests COVID-19 was already circulating in Northern Italy before China reported the first cases on December 31. 

The Italian National Institute of Health looked at 40 sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in northern Italy between October 2019 and February 2020. 

An analysis released last week said samples taken in Milan and Turin on December 18 showed the presence of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. 

The first confirmed case of coronavirus in Italy came on January 31. 

'This research may help us understand the beginning of virus circulation in Italy,' Giuseppina La Rosa, an expert in environmental wastewater at the Italian National Institute of Health who co-led the research, said in a statement detailing the findings.

Scientists in Italy have found traces of coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019

Scientists in Italy have found traces of coronavirus in wastewater collected from Milan and Turin in December 2019

Small studies conducted by scientific teams in the Netherlands, France, Australia and elsewhere have found signs that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be detected in sewage, and many countries are beginning to use wastewater sampling to track the spread of the disease.

La Rosa said the detection of traces of the virus before the end of 2019 was consistent with evidence emerging in other countries that COVID-19 may have been circulating before China reported the first cases of a new disease on December 31.

A study in May by French scientists found that a man was infected with COVID-19 as early as December 27, nearly a month before France confirmed its first cases.

La Rosa said the presence of the virus in the Italian waste samples did not 'automatically imply that the main transmission chains that led to the development of the epidemic in our country originated from these very first cases'.

Samples positive for traces of the virus that causes COVID-19 were also found in sewage from Bologna, Milan and Turin in January and February 2020. 

Samples taken in October and November 2019 tested negative.

The institute said it plans to launch a pilot study in July to monitor wastewater at sites identified in tourist resorts.  

It comes after previous research by University College London's Genetics Institute suggested coronavirus may have emerged as early as October last year.

A genetic study of samples from more than 7,500 people infected with COVID-19 indicated that the new coronavirus spread quickly around the world after it emerged in China sometime between October and December last year.

Researchers at University College London's Genetics Institute found almost 200 recurrent genetic mutations of the new coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 - which the UCL researchers said showed how it is adapting to its human hosts as it spreads.

'Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around October 6, 2019 to December 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans,' the research team, co-led by Francois Balloux, wrote in a study published in the journal Infection, Genetics and Evolution.

Balloux said the analysis also found that the virus was and is mutating, as normally happens with viruses, and that a large proportion of the global genetic diversity of the virus causing COVID-19 was found in all of the hardest-hit countries. 

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