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In Italy, the number of new cases amounted to about 1.5 thousand. per day from a few hundred in June, when restrictions began to ease. However, in Spain and France, more than 10,000 new infections are registered every day.
In much of Italy, life flows in the usual way: restaurants and bars are open, people travel to the beaches, children go back to school.
Experts highlight three main reasons for Italy’s resistance.
The advantage of the first meeting
Virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco from the University of Milan believes that the situation in Italy is currently better than in the United Kingdom, Spain or France, “because we were among the first in the world to face Hurricane COVID.”
According to him, the Italian government had more time to plan a strategy after the quarantine, and the easing of restrictions was extremely slow, allowing the government to quickly reintroduce the necessary restrictions, writes the Financial Times.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte constantly reminds Italians to be vigilant. The declaration of a state of emergency for COVID-19 gave him the power to rule by decree, allowing his government to react quickly to the increase in new cases in the summer.
In August, Rome ordered the closure of all discos, introduced a rule that in all places with a large number of people, from 6 to 6 pm it would be mandatory to wear masks. Initially, these measures were applied for a month, extended in early September for another 30 days.
„Scanpix“ / „SIPA“ nuotr./Venecija
The public followed the rules
According to health officials, the fact that a large part of society adhered to measures such as the mandatory use of masks in shops and on public transport also contributed to the management of the situation. Also, visitors to bars and restaurants must provide their names and phone numbers, according to the Financial Times.
A poll from Imperial College London shows that 84 percent. Italians said they were “very or quite willing” to wear the mask if their government advised it. In the UK, the figure is 76%.
Those who don’t follow the rules are punished. In late August, Italian media wrote that the 29-year-old was fined 400 euros for refusing to wear a mask at Rome’s Trevi Fountain. He told officials that COVID-19 did not exist.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Coronavirus test at Rome airport
On Monday alone, the police inspected 50,602 people and 4,939 businesses, fined 227 people and ordered the closure of three companies.
“Italians are more respectful of social distance measures, and even in the smallest commercial activities, all measures are closely monitored,” Andrea Crisanti, a professor of microbiology at the University of Padua, told the Financial Times.
According to Ferdiando Luca Lorini, director of the intensive care unit at Bergamo Hospital, individual behavior also played an important role.
“We have become one of the countries most affected by the pandemic due to the clarity of the rules from the beginning and everyone’s determination to abide by them,” he said.
Effective testing and monitoring
According to Crisanti, the response to the pandemic was not only the carrying out of massive tests, but also the effective monitoring of cases and the tracing of all those who had contact with those infected.
About 2 percent. tests carried out in Italy are positive, compared to 13%. In Spain. Consequently, in the latter, the virus is more prevalent.
“When the test result is positive, we evaluate everyone who may have had contact with that person. The real problem of the epidemic is the asymptomatic cases, they will not stop them, they will not get out of the epidemic, ”Crisanti told the Financial Times.
In August, when the popular Italian holiday destination Sardinia became a hotbed for coronavirus, mobile checkpoints were established at the port. Those infected were isolated more quickly, preventing the outbreak in Sardinia from spreading to other regions.
„Scanpix“ nuotr./Moksleiviai Milane
While no one wants to pull their fate behind the mustache as winter approaches, there is no doubt that Italy’s efforts can help continue to fight the coronavirus.
“If Italians, who have followed all measures so far, continue to do so, we should be able to control the situation and get used to living with the problem until a vaccine is invented,” Pregliasco said.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 300,000 people have been diagnosed in Italy. cases of coronavirus infection, 35.7 thousand. Deaths associated with COVID-19.
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