• Italy: Milan closes for fear of the coronavirus
  • Expert. "The coronavirus epidemic in Italy began in a hospital. That is why there are so many cases"

More than 300 people infected in nine regions of the country and 11 fatalities. The latest official balance confirms the expansion of the coronavirus in Italy. The health authorities point out that the epidemic is controlled and underline that the deceased were elderly people, with diseases prior to infection and from Lombardy and Veneto, the two regions considered epicenter of the virus. This Tuesday the first cases were registered in the south of the country, three Lombard tourists on vacation in Sicily, to which two in Tuscany and one in Liguria.

Experts explain the high number of infections in Italy for a demographic issue. "In Italy there is an elderly population and the elderly are more fragile, we see it with the flu. From this we can protect them with the vaccine, not the coronavirus," said Giovanni Rezza, director of the department of infectious diseases of the Higher Institute of Health. Statistics indicate that more than 95% of those infected overcome the disease, many of them without even presenting symptoms. However, the concern spreads among Italians at almost the same speed as the coronavirus, which on Tuesday broke the apparent political truce.

The Government faced criticism from the affected regions after Conte accused of not having respected the prevention protocols and allowed the disease to spread to those responsible for the Codogno hospital, where the first case of coronavirus was recorded. "It is clear that there has been an outbreak and it has spread from there," the prime minister said. A criticism that was not well received by Lombardy and Veneto, where the Matteo Salvini League rules . "Unfortunately we have followed the protocols of the Government," replied the Lombard governor. "I thank those who are working day and night to limit the damage, which surely does not depend on a Codogno doctor but on the central government," the legist leader criticized.

Italy has performed 8,600 coronavirus tests in total compared to the nearly 500 that have been practiced in France, but part of the health system is transferred to the regions, so each of them is applying sometimes contrasting protocols. Experts agree to point out the uselessness of performing these examinations indiscriminately when there are no symptoms or the patient does not come from risk areas, as well as the need to maintain a single line of action instead of different criteria depending on the region.

In a television interview, Conte hinted that the government was considering assuming the powers to deal with the crisis if the level of emergency increased. And he managed, again, to anger the governors of the north. "Ask the Veneto if they want the health to come managed from Rome," President Luca Zaia launched.

The League had asked the Government of Conte to close the ports to the rescue ships and to submit a quarantine to the Chinese citizens who returned to Italy after having visited their country of origin when the crisis broke out in the Asian country. Instead, Italy was the first European country that suspended air traffic with China. A month after taking the controversial measure, which caused some discomfort in the diplomatic environment, the transalpine country has become the sick person in Europe.

The list of foreign countries that have provided some type of restriction to the movement of Italians from the affected regions or who recommend avoiding travel continues to increase. The penultimate to join has been the United Kingdom, which has imposed a sort of home isolation to Italian citizens entering the country. The Netherlands, Ireland or Israel advise against traveling to Italy, while Bulgaria has suspended flights to Milan until the end of March, and in France students who have spent holidays in Lombardy or Veneto must remain in 'quarantine' for 14 days.

Some limitations that the prime minister considered Tuesday "unfair." "The Italian national health system is among the most efficient in the world and our health policy is one of the most rigorous. Italy is a safe country," Conte reiterated during a press conference. To prevent the crisis from affecting tourism and impacting the already battered Italian economy, the Ministers of Health of Italy, Austria, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Croatia and Germany agreed yesterday to keep borders open and share information.

The prime minister also said that the Government is preparing a plan of measures to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus that particularly affects Lombardy and Veneto, whose economy accounts for one third of the national GDP. The Executive will also suspend mortgages and some taxes on citizens and businesses under quarantine in the so-called 'red zone', eleven locations in northern Italy where 50,000 people live in isolation since Saturday.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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