The Italian government has ordered the closure of all schools and universities nationwide from today until 15 March as it grapples to contain Europe’ s worst outbreak of coronavirus, which has claimed 107 lives in the country, an increase of 28 in 24 hours. “We are focused on taking all measures for direct containment or delaying the spread of the virus,” said the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, as he announced the most stringent containment measures outside Asia. “The health system risks going into overload, and we will have a problem with intensive care if an exponential crisis continues.” Last night the government also confirmed that the all major sporting events including Serie A football would be played behind closed doors due to the outbreak until 3 April. Schools have already been closed in the northern regions worst affected by the outbreak, including Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as in parts of Liguria and Marche. The virus has now spread to all but one of Italy’ s 20 regions, with the majority – 1,497 – in Lombardy, followed by Emilia-Romagna (516) and Veneto (345). The country has recorded a total of 3,090 cases since the outbreak began, including 276 people who have recovered. The education minister, Lucia Azzolina, told a press conference last night that closing school and universities “wasn’ t a simple decision we waited for the opinion of the scientific-technical committee”. The government is reportedly considering further measures, including the closure of cinemas and theatres and the suspension of public events. In the regions worst hit, such as Lombardy, theatres and cinemas are already closed and will remain so. Italians have already been told to refrain from the traditional greeting of kissing on the cheek and hugging, to avoid crowded places, and to keep a distance from others. People with respiratory problems have been advised to stay at home, as have those over 65. “We have to work for the country by staying within the rules and adopting lifestyles that halt the classic paths of transmission,” said Silvio Brusaferro, the president of the higher health institute. Ten towns in Lombardy and one in Veneto have been under lockdown for almost two weeks. Codacons, Italy’ s main consumer association, said closing schools would have “enormous consequences” for Italian families. “Those who cannot count on relatives to look after their children will have to take time off work, meaning a drop in productivity across all of Italy and enormous economic repercussions.” The Italian economy has been badly damaged by the outbreak, with warnings yesterday that the tourism sector could suffer 7.4bn (£6.3bn) of losses. Bars in Venice are offering free drinks to lure customers back, while Milan and Rome have emptied out after thousands cancelled bookings. Several airlines, including BA, Ryanair and easyJet, have cancelled some flights to Italy because of low demand. The Netherlands is the latest country to advise against all but essential travel to northern Italy, and Tunisia said it would suspend passenger ferries to the north after one of its citizens tested positive after recently arriving from Italy by sea. The Italian government is seeking flexibility from Brussels on eurozone budget rules to permit a 3.6bn package to help businesses withstand the economic fallout. This follows 900m worth of financial relief measures for the towns in Lombardy and Veneto under lockdown. Italy has faced criticism of its handling of the outbreak including that its regionally devolved health system and delays and errors dealing with initial cases allowed the virus to spread rapidly both within the country and far beyond its borders, with infectious individuals with links to Italy implicated in cases from Mexico to the UK. The new decree, however, mirrors tough rules recently introduced in other major centres of the outbreak including South Korea, Iran and Japan, which have all introduced measures from shutting schools to the cancellation of Friday prayers, and bans on large gatherings to contain the spread.
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Tags: Coronavirus