ROME: After a strict two-month lockdown, Italy is facing a moment of truth in the fight against coronavirus.
It was among the first European countries to impose strict restrictions to contain the infection, shutting down much of normal life on March 10.
Italy’s total death toll has climbed to more than 28,000 — the second-highest in the world after the US — with more than 200,000 cases confirmed so far.
But on Monday, some 4.5 million workers will return to work as the so-called “Phase 2” begins. Many of them live in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, in the areas hardest hit by the pandemic.
Eighty percent of new cases and deaths recorded in the last days of April were in five northern regions, according to the National Health Institute.
Those regions are Italy’s most industrialized areas and the engines of the country’s economy, producing 45 percent of total economic output.
With a partial lifting of the restrictive measures, in the next few days everyone will watch the daily infection report issued by the Civil Protection Department.
“We did well so far in the first half. Now we have to win the game, or it will be lockdown again,” Domenico Arcuri, the government’s special commissioner for the COVID-19 emergency, told Arab News. “The world is watching us.”
Manufacturing, construction companies and some wholesalers will resume operations on Monday, but movement between regions remains forbidden, leaving it up to each territory to monitor changes and trends in infection rates.
Parks will reopen across cities. Individual exercise is allowed, which leaves out football training. Serie A teams have been trying to get permission from regional governors to perform group sessions, but the government in Rome has issued a veto. Takeaway businesses will also be firing up their kitchens once more.
Limited family visits will be permitted, but religious ceremonies remain suspended. Only funerals and weddings can be performed, with a maximum of 15 people in attendance, all wearing face masks and preferably outdoors.
People will still be discouraged from traveling freely even within the city where they live, with everyone being asked to carry a formal declaration giving the reasons for their being outdoors in order to avoid sanctions.
Under the government’s scheme, shops, museums and libraries will reopen on May 18. Restaurants, bars and salons will be allowed to resume trading in early June.
Schools will remain shut until September, but plans have been drawn up to reopen nurseries and hold mini summer schools on a trial basis.
The closure of schools until the end of the academic year has been one of the more controversial measures imposed in Italy, with many saying it overly penalizes children and working women.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has insisted that children carry a very high risk of contagion. Part of the reason for keeping schools closed is also the risk of infecting vulnerable teachers — nearly 60 percent of them in the country are aged over 50.
Protective masks will be mandatory on public transport. The government has promised to make them available and cap the price at 50 cents.
New safety measures to protect workers during their commutes are being planned. Alternative transportation such as bicycles are being promoted.
How to maintain safe distancing on trains and buses, and more frequent routes, is under discussion. It will not be easy during peak hours on notoriously inefficient public transport systems in most Italian cities, such as Rome and Naples.
In the coming weeks, 150,000 serological tests will be made available by the government to obtain a more complete picture of the pandemic’s spread in the country. A tracing app, which will not retain users’ personal data, is expected to be introduced soon.
The aim is now to prevent a relapse that would further cripple the economy, which the government expects to shrink by about 8 percent this year, slightly less than the 9.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund.
But Conte has warned Parliament that the drop could reach 10 percent or more if the virus begins to spread again and further containment measures are needed.
The Health Ministry is developing a set of criteria to determine when to sound the alarm about a returning virus threat.
These include whether contagion rates are putting an unbearable burden on hospitals, and if regions have enough tests and other means to track cases.
Sources from Conte’s office told Arab News that the government is only considering re-imposing local lockdowns, rather than a national one, if infection rates edge back up.
from World https://ift.tt/35DF2P7
via Latest News of Dubai
0 Comments