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Italy will be placed under lockdown from today
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As the number of COVID-19 cases jumped to 9,172 with 463 deaths, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced late Monday that the whole of Italy will be placed under lockdown from Tuesday until April 3.
In line with the unprecedented measures to contain the highly infectious virus in Europe’s worst-affected country, all movements will be restricted across Italy except those justified by three reasons: provable work reason, emergency cases, and health needs.
In Alessandria, a small city in northern Italy, 52-year-old TV professional Antonella Marchini said that “people have started realizing how serious the situation is” since the new restrictions entered into force.
“Many of us had kept living our normal life through the last two weeks, going to gym, to pubs and restaurants… as if the epidemic was a problem for the country, but not really our own problem,” she told Xinhua.
“Since yesterday (Sunday), we officially live in a restricted zone, our personal movements must be limited… we are truly growing aware of the situation,” she stressed.
This mental transition could be witnessed in many people, including her mother.
“My mother is 72 and healthy, but just recovering from a normal cough… and she has asked me to stop visiting her now, while up to two days ago I had to fight hard to keep her at home as experts were suggesting for elders,” she said.
In the same northern city, Elisabetta Cardone, a 53-year-old nurse, said her family had been following all precautions even before the lastest decree.
“Since Sunday, my family and I are halting all social activities,” she told Xinhua. “I have two children in their twenties, and for them staying at home and cutting their social exchanges is of course a bigger sacrifice, but they understand the gravity of the situation and they are adapting without problems.”