Italian authorities have announced they are shutting down Venice's famed carnival events in a bid to stop the spread of the novel virus, as numbers of infected persons in the country have soared to at least 133.
Veneto regional Gov. Luca Zaia said the shutdown will begin Sunday evening. Carnival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors to the lagoon city, would have run through Tuesday.
Authorities said three people in Venice have tested positive, all of them in their late 80s and who are hospitalized in critical condition. Nearly all of Italy's cases are clustered in the north, including in the northeast Veneto region which includes Venice.