People wearing face masks walk on a street in Rome, Italy, on March 12, 2020. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday evening announced the closure of all retail shops, coffee bars, pubs, restaurants, hair stylists, and beauty salons, and called on the private sector to let employees take leave or work from home as much as possible. (Photo by Elisa Lingria/Xinhua)

ROME, March 11  -- Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday evening announced the closure of all retail shops, coffee bars, pubs, restaurants, hair stylists, and beauty salons, and called on the private sector to let employees take leave or work from home as much as possible.

The only exceptions, said the prime minister, are supermarkets, pharmacies, public transportation, post offices, banks, farms, and food production industries, which must be kept running in order to guarantee basic services to the public.

The stringent new measures are aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, which has so far infected over 10,000 people and killed over 800 in Italy since it first appeared in the country on Feb. 21.