Coronavirus: Italy Closes "Non-Essential" Businesses

Text by: RFI Follow

To try to better contain the spread of the Covid-19, the president of the Italian council Giuseppe Conte announced on the night of Saturday to Sunday March 22 the stopping of "any production activity" which would not be essential to guarantee the supply essential goods to the population.

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Gisueppe Conte recognized this: it is a “ not easy decision ”. His government has taken an " additional step " in restrictive measures to try to stem the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. “ We cannot hide the reality that is every day before our eyes. It is the most serious crisis the country has experienced since the Second World War. "

The Chairman of the Board did not specify the list of activities considered essential. But he explained that he had " worked with the unions to make a detailed list of the sectors most necessary for the functioning of the state in this emergency phase ".

However, Guiseppe Conte wanted to reassure: " we slow down the country's productive engine, but we don't stop it ". Thus, pharmacies, supermarkets and food stores , postal, financial and insurance services, transport will continue to operate.

" Protect workers "

These new announcements come after numerous calls from officials in the north of the country and doctors asking him to further tighten the restrictions imposed on Italians. " The government has made a very hard but necessary choice to protect workers, " reacted the mayor of Bergamo Giorgio Gori, whose province is the most affected in Italy with that of Brescia .

Italy is paying a terrible price in the pandemic, the heaviest in the world, with nearly 5,000 dead, according to a report announced this Saturday evening. Nearly 3,000 people remain in intensive care in the country.

► Read also: Coronavirus: heavy economic losses for Italy

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• Coronavirus
• Italy
• Giuseppe Conte
• Businesses

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