The Italian government extended the confinement and brutal economic slowdown imposed on the country for a month to Friday to May 3 in an attempt to stem the coronavirus pandemic there. "We are extending the restrictive measures until May 3, a difficult but necessary decision for which I assume full political responsibility," said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during an official speech.
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Double pressure
For several days, the head of the Italian government has been subjected to double pressure. Doctors and scientists are calling on him not to leave the country too early, at the risk of relaunching the pandemic which has been slowing for ten days in the most mourning country in the world (nearly 19,000 dead), according to official reports. But in the other direction, business circles and employers warn of the terrible damage imposed on the third European economy, almost stopped since mid-March.
The measures in force for a month "are bearing fruit, they are working," said Giuseppe Conte to his compatriots. "I know that we are all impatient to leave" and "I hope we can do it after May 3 with caution and gradually," he continued. He added that a few more activities would be allowed to resume on April 14, citing bookstores, logging and baby stores.
"We cannot afford a resumption of contagion"
But "we can assume that the virus will disappear from our territory, we can not afford a resumption of the contagion," said the official. "If we give up now, we risk losing all these positive effects and having to start from scratch."
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Giuseppe Conte once again expressed his disappointment at the response of the European Union, which announced a fund of 500 billion euros to respond to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic. "The first estimates tell us that 1.5 trillion euros are needed," he said. European decisions "are only the first step which is not enough." He would like to see the birth of a debt pooling system by "coronabonds".