Discomfort in regions affected by isolation in northern Italy by coronavirus

• Coronavirus Symptoms and how to avoid contagion
• Italy: Isolates 16 million people to stop the infection

The Lombardy region and 14 other provinces located in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont and Marche will remain isolated until at least April 3 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus collapse hospitals in the north of the country. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed the decision after 2 a.m. on Saturday, but the draft decree had been circulating for hours and was advanced by some media outlets, unleashing panic among citizens and outraging regional authorities.

With the new decree the Italian Government appeals to the responsibility and asks the citizens to "avoid the displacements" of entry and exit as well as within the same territory. It is not an absolute prohibition, as was apparent from the first version, but the authorities specify that you can only travel for justified reasons (labor matters, emergencies or health reasons). The control of the territory will depend on the delegation of the competent Government, but the text does not explain with what concrete measures the local authorities will guarantee compliance, although it establishes that the police will be authorized to stop citizens who try to enter or leave. The text provides for criminal actions if the regulations are violated. This Sunday, trains and planes continued to circulate and the airports in the affected areas were operational.

"I assume the political responsibility of this decision. It is the moment of responsibility. We have to protect our health and especially that of our grandparents," said the Prime Minister, announcing the content of an operative decree from this Sunday, which limits freedom of movement of about 16 million people.

The different interpretations to which the text is open has caused discomfort in the affected regions, which accuse the Government of not having been consulted . For the Veneto region it is a "disproportionate" procedure and its president, Luca Zaia, has asked the central government on Sunday for the power to manage the emergency . Critical also the mayor of Pesaro, in the Marche region, who believes that the regulation adds "more confusion." A reading shared by Attilio Fontana, president of Lombardy, the region with the highest number of infections . The Lombard governor has asked citizens not to go to supermarkets to collect food since the supply of products is guaranteed.

Shortly after the intention of the Italian Government to approve this decree was known, some media published the draft of the text that in its first version extended the 'red zone' - ten villages of Lombardy and one of Veneto in quarantine for two weeks-- to the entire Lombard region and 11 provinces of Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Veneto and Marche. The news caused hundreds of people to rush to the main train and bus stations in Milan to return to their home cities in the center and south of the country, in anticipation of the region being completely 'armored'. "It is unacceptable," denounced the prime minister during his appearance. "This affects the correctness of the government's work and the security of the Italians. This publication has created uncertainty, insecurity, confusion and we cannot accept it."

In the final version of the text the concept of 'red zone' disappears , which ceases to exist even for the eleven isolated municipalities until this Sunday, and divides the national territory into two areas: the Lombardy region and 14 provinces distributed in the north of Italy, and the rest of the country.

In an urgent message released that same night, the president of the Puglia region, Michele Emiliano, asked citizens originating in this region to have abruptly left the north of the country to take a step back. Later, he announced that all citizens from Lombardy and the 14 provinces in isolation must undergo a mandatory quarantine at their homes. A call joined by Jole Santelli, president of the Calabria region, also in the south of the country. "We are worried and working tirelessly to preserve our land from those who have not understood the seriousness of returning without any control. Coming from the north in an uncontrolled way puts our land in danger . Do not do it."

The last balance of Civil Protection yesterday confirmed 5,883 positive cases, 233 deaths and 589 people cured in Italy since the emergency was declared two weeks ago. The most affected regions are Lombardy, with 2,612 infected and 135 dead; Emilia-Romagna, with 870 infections and 37 deceased; and Veneto, which records 488 positive coronavirus and 12 fatalities.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Italy
• Coronavirus

COVID-19 From marathons to evening evenings: this is how the patient 1 spread the coronavirus in Italy in just 19 days

Italy How did the coronavirus get to Italy? The "mystery" of the origin of the focus remains unsolved

Outbreak Coronavirus arrives in Venice and there are already more than 100 infected in Italy