Checkpoints at Italy's coronavirus 'red zones'

Cars and trucks trying to reach the so-called "red zone" of Casalpusterlengo were stuck in a line of traffic.

Casalpusterlengo is one of almost a dozen towns in Lombardy close to Italy's financial capital Milan, with a combined population of nearly 50,000, that have been placed under effective quarantine, with similar measures in place for a small town in neighboring Veneto.

Italy has reported more than 260 cases and seven deaths, most in the prosperous north.

Authorities have shut schools, universities, museums, and cinemas for at least a week, and banned public gatherings including the famed Venice carnival.