The COVID-19 situation in Italy is worsening with no reprieve in sight.
At first, the measures undertaken by China to place its people in lockdown were seen as drastic.
However, Italy was forced to put part of the country on lockdown eventually because they’ve got #nochoice.
This decision alone had put as many as 16 million people in the Lombardy region and 11 other provinces in quarantine.
But a few days after the partial lockdown, they’ve resorted to something even more drastic.
Italy Imposes Nationwide Lockdown After Covid-19 Deaths Nears 500
Italy will essentially be the first country in the world to attempt a nationwide lockdown.
It was a last resort and people were told by the government to stay home in a desperate bid to contain the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 in Italy.
Now bear in mind that Italy is Europe’s fourth-largest economy so brace yourself for impact.
The toll the virus has on the country is no joke. To date, there are almost 500 deaths due to the virus in Italy.
In short, the numbers are spinning out of control.
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Country’s “Darkest Hour”
Italy’s leader has called this situation the country’s “darkest hour”.
According to The Straits Times, this drew comparisons to the Uk during World War II when it was losing the fight against the Nazis.
The psychological and economic effect can be harrowing as the government scrambles to try to lessen the impact.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at an unscheduled news conference on Monday, “We need to change our habits right now.”
“We are forced to impose sacrifices” on the entire country.
Barely 48 hours after announcing drastic measures, Conte is stepping up the restrictions by decree across the entire nation.
This is effectively going to affect as many as 60 million people.
Italy’s Vs China’s Measures
It seems that now things are becoming even more serious.
However, it is still a question of whether these very strict measures can successfully be enforced in Western economies.
But there really is no choice if the government seeks to contain the spread of the virus.
Same-Same-But-Different
That being said, the country’s health system is said to be on the edge of crumbling and it seems that the challenges that Italy faces “in practical terms are much greater than what China carried out in part of the country.”
For one, there weren’t nationwide travel restrictions implemented in China. They only focused on the most affected province, Hubei, which is the epicentre of the outbreak.
It only locked down a handful of cities by halting air and rail travel and restricting movements of restricting car traffic flow, which included Wuhan where the virus is believed to have stemmed from.
In Italy, schools and universities will be closed nationwide, all public events will be cancelled and Italians won’t be allowed to travel without a business or health-related justification until 3 April.
Even Italy’s top sports body asked for all sports events to be blocked until 3 April.
They’ve even asked for the government to issue a decree to enforce this.
The Situation In Italy
This drastic measure came after the number of cases in Italy surged by as much as 25% to 9,172 on Monday.
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The number of deaths has also increased to 463 from 366.
Italy’s Finance Ministry said on Monday that the country will benefit from taking a short-term economic hit now to prevent wider economic crisis.
They have also increased spending to 7.5 billion euros (S$11.9 billion) to help cushion the economic impact of the virus. This figure is expected to increase.
It all started nearby Italy’s financial capital Milan on 21 February.
Since then many confirmed cases and death emerged which unsurprisingly impacted the national health system.
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