Italy’s banned all travel, just one measure the government is taking to combat the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, and the world’s democracies are watching closely.
Italians woke up one morning and realised, after rubbing their eyes, that they’d been transported far into the future. Overnight, authorities had announced the single most dramatic measures ever taken by a democracy to try and prevent the spread of a disease. And other Western countries are paying close attention since they are being forced to follow Italy’s lead.
Unparalleled Restrictions
One of the first steps was taken by Rome, which placed strict limitations on travel into and out of the Lombardy region which surrounds Milan, the country’s capital in terms of economics, fashion, and media. It did the same in 14 other provinces across its wealthy north, including sections of the Emilia Romagna region and Venice.
In this area, populated by 16 million people, was the European epicentre for coronavirus COVID-19, and the numbers of those infected kept rising horrifyingly quickly.
The Italian government banned all public gatherings, which meant no concerts, discos, funerals, sporting events, or weddings, and only online Bingo halls have been allowed to operate. While trains and planes are still operational, and still running on time, the government forbade people from going anywhere except when absolutely necessary.
Bars and restaurants were allowed to open, but only from 6 am to 6 pm and only if they could ensure three feet, or nearly one metre, of space between guests. Nationwide, the government ordered the closure of cinemas, concert halls, libraries, museums, and theatres, along with the quarantine of anyone with a temperature of over 37.5° Celsius or 99.5° Fahrenheit as well as anyone who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Day-care facilities, schools, and universities were all closed, and Pope Francis, who was fighting a cold, was forced to deliver his weekly Angelus message via video-streaming from the Vatican library instead of his usual Saint Peter’s Square window.
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
These dramatic steps initially gave rise to mass panic and confusion as people wondered how they would be implemented and how they would be enforced. These suggested conditions were revealed in a time of chaos, to boot, after a draft bill proposing an outline was leaked to the press.
The scheme suggested a total lockdown for northern Italy, so thousands of people streamed to already overcrowded trains heading south. Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte gave a conference clearing things up, however, saying that citizens were simply obligated to reduce their movements going forward.
Italy has been a political laboratory, for better or for worse, and offered a warning as to the developments that would go on to spread across the world. It can also be described as a country that, although bound by rules, often breaks them and one that, while falling short when it comes to long-term planning, seems to rise to the occasion in an emergency.
These methods have resulted in a decline in infected patients and statistics revealing no new deaths and no new cases recently.