After 11 p.m., Milan is a ghost town. The piazzas are empty, the streets dark and quiet.
The silence is broken by the occasional rumble of a bus, streetcar or taxi, gliding through the night with few or no passengers.
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After 11 p.m., Milan is a ghost town. The piazzas are empty, the streets dark and quiet.
The curfew is among a raft of measures that authorities hope will stem the resurgence of COVID-19 in a part of the world that suffered severely early in the pandemic.
That number dwindled to double digits in the summer. In its latest update, the Health Ministry reported Saturday that more than 1,127 COVID-19 patients were in ICUs across Italy, including 213 in Lombardy. The nation’s confirmed death toll, the second-highest in Europe after Britain’s, rose to 37,210 with the deaths of another 151 people.
A streetcar driver is reflected in a mirror, top right, as he drives around Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The statue of Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi is lit in the middle of an empty square, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A street cleaning vehicle washes the square in front of the Duomo gothic cathedral, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The Vittorio Emanuele II arcarde is deserted, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The entrance of the Piccolo theater is shut, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A cleaner sweeps in an empty Vittorio Emanuele II arcarde, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A military vehicle drives past La Scala opera theater in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Streets are empty in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
An empty street in front of La Scala opera house is lit by a red traffic light in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A taxi drives along an empty street in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
An empty street is lit by street lights in Milan, northern Italy, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Since an 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity.
An empty street is seen from a tram streetcar window, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The curfew is among a raft of measures that authorities hope will stem the resurgence of COVID-19 in a part of the world that suffered severely early in the pandemic.
Milan, Italy's business hub and the capital of the wealthy Lombardy region, has seen the sharpest rise in infections as the coronavirus once again is spreading out of control.
Further restrictions are set to take effect Monday. The Italian government is trying to prevent a repeat of the crisis the country experienced in the spring, when more than 30,000 people died and the hospitals at one point had more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
A man who stepped off a tram streetcar, right, waits at a stop as the tram moves on, in Milan, northern Italy, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
That number dwindled to double digits in the summer. In its latest update, the Health Ministry reported Saturday that more than 1,127 COVID-19 patients were in ICUs across Italy, including 213 in Lombardy. The nation’s confirmed death toll, the second-highest in Europe after Britain’s, rose to 37,210 with the deaths of another 151 people.
Karl Ritter in Rome contributed to this report.
An empty tram street car runs in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A streetcar driver is reflected in a mirror, top right, as he drives around Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The statue of Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi is lit in the middle of an empty square, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A street cleaning vehicle washes the square in front of the Duomo gothic cathedral, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The Vittorio Emanuele II arcarde is deserted, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The entrance of the Piccolo theater is shut, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A cleaner sweeps in an empty Vittorio Emanuele II arcarde, in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A military vehicle drives past La Scala opera theater in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Streets are empty in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
An empty street in front of La Scala opera house is lit by a red traffic light in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
A taxi drives along an empty street in Milan, northern Italy, early Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
An empty street is lit by street lights in Milan, northern Italy, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Since the 11 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew took effect last Thursday, people can only move around during those hours for reasons of work, health or necessity. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)