(HDFFC|00003S/r.a
MON-FRI:$4.
SATURDAY:$6.
PRICESMAYBE
HIGHERINSOMEAREASTHEGLOBE'SSECUREDROPSERVICEPROVIDES
AWAYTOSECURELYSHAREINFORMATIONWITH
OURJOURNALISTSTGAM.CA/SECUREDROPINSIDE A-SECTION B-SECTION
GARYMASON...........................A
ANDREWCOYNE........................A
BARRYHERTZ...........................A
JEFFREYJONES..........................B
IANMcGUGAN...........................B
ROBCARRICK............................B
FOLIO .................................A8-
EDITORIAL&LETTERS...................A
OPINION................................A
LIFE&ARTS............................A
FIRSTPERSON..........................A
WEATHER&PUZZLES...................AREPORTONBUSINESS....................B
OPINION&ANALYSIS....................B
GLOBEINVESTOR........................B
SPORTS .................................B
COMICS .................................B
OBITUARIES............................BOTTAWA/QUEBECEDITION ■ WEDNESDAY,MARCH11,2020 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COMThe boisterous hum of Rome
dwindled to a whisper and police
patrols kept people apart in cafés
as Italy enforced an extraordin-
ary, sweeping lockdown Tuesday
in an attempt to avoid becoming
the next epicentre of the spread-
ing coronavirus epidemic now
that life in China is edging back
to normal.
Infections in Italy topped the
10,000 mark with 10,149 cases –
more than anywhere else but
China – and the number of
deaths from the virus rose to
631, from 463 a day earlier, Ital-
ian Civil Protection authorities
said.
Travel and social restrictions
that were extended across Italy
illustrated how the virus and the
broad disruptions it is causing
are sweeping westward from
China, where the outbreak be-
gan.
Police across the country pa-
trolled cafés to make sure own-
ers kept customers 1 metre apart
during daylight hours and then
enforced a strict 6 p.m. closing
order.
“It’s bad. People are terror-
ized,” said Massimo Leonardo,
who runs a market stall. “I’ve
never seen anything like it.”
For most, the coronavirus
causes only mild or moderate
symptoms, such as fever and
cough. But for a few, especially
older adults and people with ex-
isting health problems, it can
cause more severe illnesses, in-
cluding pneumonia. More than
116,000 people have been infect-
ed worldwide and more than
4,000 have died.
VIRUS, AInfections
inItalytop
10,000as
threatfades
inChina
NICOLEWINFIELD
JOHNLEICESTERROMECanada now has nearly 100 cases
of the novel coronavirus and
provinces are planning to offer
more in-home testing as they try
to prevent patients with mild
symptoms from overloading the
country’s emergency depart-
ments.
COVID-19 cases continue to in-
crease, with 15 new cases report-
ed across Canada on Tuesday.
Those include two new cases
in British Columbia that have no
clear link to the source of the dis-
ease and indicate exposure with-
in the community.
B.C. and Alberta are already
testing patients for the novel cor-
onavirus at home.
In Toronto, public-health
nurses have been providing lim-
ited “clearance” testing in the
private residences of patients
diagnosed with COVID-19, the
disease caused by the new virus,
to see whether they’ve reco-
vered.
But in-home coronavirus test-
ing is poised to expand now that
Canada’s most populous prov-
ince intends to offer it more
widely.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health
sent a memo to health-care orga-
nizations on Monday laying out
some principles for containing
the coronavirus, including mak-
ing, “services and access to
screening more accessible to pa-
tients in their homes, to reduce
the spread of illness.”
TESTING, AIn-home
testingto
expandin
battleag ainst
coronavirus
KELLYGRANTTORONTO
ANDREAWOOVANCOUVER
WENDYSTUECKVANCOUVER1987; it pared back some of those losses
on Tuesday, climbing 3 per cent.
Royal Bank of Canada chief executive
David McKay said on Tuesday that mone-
tary policy alone is not enough to fight
the concurrent supply and demand-
side shocks caused by COVID-19, and
fiscal measures, such as payroll-tax cuts,
are likely needed to shore up the econo-
my.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told re-
porters that hisgovernment recognized
the need to act.
ECONOMY, Athat will include changes to employment
insurance to assist employees who must
stay home because of the coronavirus,
funding for health research and money to
help the provinces cope with the crisis,
according to a seniorgovernment official.
The collapse in the price of oil, com-
bined with broader disruptions to global
business caused by the virus, has dar-
kened the outlook for the Canadian econ-
omy in recent days and sent markets into
a tailspin. The S&P/TSX Composite Index
fell 10.27 per cent on Monday, the worst
one-day drop for Canadian markets sinceThe federalgovernment will release an
economic package Wednesday to support
workers and provinces affected by the fal-
lout from the new coronavirus outbreak,
responding to growing calls for action in
the wake of market turmoil and the
plummeting price of oil.
Ottawa is set to announce measures
Ottawatogiveaidforworkers,
provinceshitbycoronavirus
Economicpackageincludesresearchfunds,EIassistanceforemployeesforcedtoself-isolate
MARKRENDELLTORONTO
BILLCURRYOTTAWA
ROBERTFIFEOTTAWA
JAMESKELLERCALGARY
country’s acting president, Mr. Putin could
now still be in office when he’s 83. Such a
reign would see him surpass Joseph Stalin
to become Russia’s longest-serving ruler
since Peter the Great.
The only remaining hurdle is an April 22
referendum on a raft of proposed changes
to the constitution. The Kremlin is expect-
ed to easily win the vote against scattered
opposition.
While there has long been speculation
that Mr. Putin intended to remain in the
Kremlin beyond 2024, Tuesday’s moves
nonetheless came as something of a sur-
prise. Under the proposed constitutional
changes, which Mr. Putin put forward in Ja-
nuary, the presidency will be weakened,
with more power given to the Duma and an
unelected body, the State Council.
However, Tuesday’s events demonstrate
that the Duma, in its current form, poses lit-
tle challenge to Mr. Putin. The motion to ex-
tend Mr. Putin’s time in office was initially
proposed by Valentina Tereshkova, a mem-
ber of the United Russia party, which is by
far the biggest faction in parliament and
has no agenda other than to support Mr.
Putin.
After Ms. Tereshkova made her propos-
al, Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said
Mr. Putin needed to be consulted on such a
dramatic change. Shortly afterward – and
clearly unsurprised by what was unfolding- the President appeared to lend the mo-
tion his support.
PUTIN,A
Russia looks headed for up to 16 more years
of Vladimir Putin’s authoritarianism, after
the country’s parliament adopted consti-
tutional changes Tuesday that would reset
the clock on his time in the Kremlin and al-
low him to get around a prohibition on
serving more than two consecutive terms.
The fact that Russia is already under de
facto one-man rule could be seen in the
choreographed way Tuesday unfolded. The
changes were proposed by a member of a
pro-Putin party, then unanimously passed
into law by the Duma – as Russia’s parlia-
ment is known – within a matter of hours,
after Mr. Putin made a surprise visit to show
his support for the elimination of term lim-
its.
The Russian President is consolidating
his power as Russia, embroiled in conflicts
in Ukraine and Syria, is bracing for the pos-
sibility of a sharp economic downturn. The
ruble plunged almost 10 per cent Monday
before recovering slightly Tuesday amid an
oil price war with Saudi Arabia.
Until Tuesday, the 67-year-old Mr. Putin
- who has been either president or prime
minister since before the turn of the centu-
ry – was barred from running again for the
presidency in 2024, when his six-year term
expires. Forty-seven years old when an ail-
ing Boris Yeltsin first installed him as the
Russianparliamentclearspath
forPutintostayinpower
MARKMacKINNON
SENIORINTERNATIONALCORRESPONDENT
LONDON
CHRISTOPHERSMITH/NYTU.S.POLITICS
Biden’ssurgethr eatens
thefadingprimary
hopesofSanders AREPORTONBUSINESS
Oilproducerscut
spending,production
afterpricecollapse BQUEBEC
Budgetboostsprogram
spending,poursbillions
intoinfrastructure A[FLIGHT302]Ë:nAÏnÝÏAæAÝôneA ̈ínÏAA¢Ì
Victims’familiesmarkfirstanniversaryofEthiopianAirlinescrashashearing
inOttawaistolddeadlyflawinBoeing737Maxjetcouldhavebeen‘easily’detected AArelativeofavictimoftheFlight302crashlightsacandleduringaceremonyattheUnitedNationsoffices
inAddisAbabaonTuesday.EighteenCanadiansdiedinthedisaster.EDUARDOSOTERAS/AFPVIAGETTYIMAGES