Italy seals off its north, the heart of its economy. All of Lombardy, as well as fourteen provinces of Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont and the Marches, are now part of a security zone that can only be entered and exited by anyone who has “undelayable” motives until April 3. It says in a new government decree that the Italians are trying to curb the spread of the coronavirus. 16 million people are affected.
After a long crisis session in his cabinet, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told the media on Sunday night that it was not a “total blockade”. Trains and flights will continue to exist, and he does not want to call the area “Zona rossa”, red zone: “But yes, these are very rigorous measures.”
Premier Guiseppe Conte announced the new decree at night. Photo: Keystone
This also includes the closure of all museums, theaters, cinemas, fitness centers, cultural institutes, swimming pools and ski resorts. The schools, which were originally supposed to remain closed until mid-March, will reopen in the security zone at the beginning of April at the earliest. In addition to Lombardy, the following provinces are specifically meant: Venice, Treviso, Padua, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Rimini, Pesaro, Urbino, Asti, Novara, Alessandria, Verbano Cusio Ossola and Vercelli. Weddings, funerals and religious processions are prohibited.
Shopping centers in these areas may only be open from Monday to Friday in the coming weeks. Bars and restaurants can continue at their own risk, provided their premises are large enough for customers to be able to keep at least one meter apart. The police can immediately close a restaurant that does not meet the regulations.
And she is allowed to stop people who are in the car and ask why they are on the road – even if they are within the security zone. For all of Italy, there is also a ban on opening pubs, discotheques and casinos, initially until April 3.
Home before everything is blocked
Conte said he was aware of the scope of the decree, the measures were unprecedented: “I have full political responsibility for this.”
The presidents of the regions of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, Attilio Fontana from the right Lega and Stefano Bonaccini from the Social Democrats, were initially irritated by the package. It creates confusion, they said. Nobody knew exactly what he was supposed to do now.
Part of the confusion stems from the fact that leaked drafts of the decree went through the internet in the hours before Contes media presence. As a result, dozens of southern Italians living in Milan headed to Stazione Centrale, the main train station, to quickly get to their home town before everything was blocked. Many didn’t even have a ticket. Conte now assured that family reunifications in emergencies would still be possible.
More medical staff deployed
The government considers it necessary to tighten its course because the number of infections has increased more than expected in recent days – the peak seems to be a while away.
The health system in the north is increasingly reaching its limits, especially in those hospitals that treat infected people in the intensive care unit. Conte announced that it had hired 20,000 doctors and nurses from other regions of the country and from private clinics to alleviate the stressful situation. Humanitarian organizations such as MSF offered their help.
Up to 60 infected people can be treated in the former military hospital in the Baggio district in Milan. Photo: Mourad Balti Touati, Keystone
5883 cases of infection are currently known in Italy, most of them in Lombardy. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, 233 people have died from or with the virus. Angelo Borrelli, head of national civil protection and special commissioner in crisis, said at the weekend that the average age of the deceased was 81. Men between 80 and 100 are the most vulnerable population group.
Only two percent of the victims were healthy before being infected with Covid-19, Borrelli said. Everyone else was already seriously ill when they contracted it, and the majority suffered from heart and lung problems.
Borrelli swore the Italians to a “pact of responsibility”. It was time for the superficial handling of the risk, as one could observe here and there, to finally stop. It became known, for example, that an elderly couple from Codogno, the probable source of the virus spread in Italy, disregarded the decision to block the “Zona rossa” there and went skiing in Trentino. Both are infected with the pathogen and are now being treated in Trento.
Sunday prayer only in the stream
Nicola Zingaretti, the chairman of the co-governing Partito Democratico and governor of the Lazio region, was also infected. He reported on Facebook from home, he was fine, he was fighting the disease. Since Zingaretti has been in contact with many people in the recent past, other politicians and ministers are now also taking self-quarantines.
There should be another premiere in Rome on Sunday. The Vatican decided that the Pope’s Sunday Angelus prayer should be streamed into the world from the library in the Apostolic Palace. Francis will therefore no longer show up at the window for a while, the Piazza San Pietro will be closed.
Only football should go on – at least for the time being and without spectators. The Milan newspaper “Corriere della Sera” writes that this is right, the footballers want to give the Italians a little bit of joy in these unpleasant times.
But how much longer? The player union president, former professional Damiano Tommasi, called for an immediate end to the Serie A championship, Italy’s top league. Others think that a month’s break is enough. Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora, on the other hand, thinks that the calendar should be kept, the games should simply take place in closed stadiums. He demanded that the pay TV stations activate the encounters for everyone, which may not be obvious to them. The head of the association, in turn, believes that the championship can continue until a player is tested positive for the corona virus. One is enough, then be over.
Created: 08.03.2020, 08:04 AM
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