Europe needs new measures to tackle coronavirus threat -Italian president

Europe must adopt new measures to confront the threat posed by the coronavirus, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said on Friday, warning that the EU had to react before it was too late.

"New initiatives are vital, overcoming old ways of thinking that are now out of touch with the reality of the dramatic conditions facing our continent," Mattarella said in a rare, televised address to the nation.

"I hope everyone fully understands, before it is too late, the seriousness of the threat faced by Europe."