The firm actions of the Italian Prime Minister’s government, Giuseppe Conte, helped the country avoid an even more serious catastrophe, and also helped to contain the COVID-19 epidemic in a number of regions.
This was told by Giovanni Savino, associate professor at the School of Public Policy, Institute of Social Sciences, RANEPA.
“Since the beginning of April, there has been talk in Italy about the “phase number 2” of the quarantine, the General Confederation of Italian Industry, opposed to the total lockdown, already wanted to know the exact dates of relaxation. However, then the situation was still far from overcoming the epidemiological crisis.
The introduction of quarantine was a necessary measure, the Conte government acted firmly in this direction, and it was thanks to this firmness that an even more serious catastrophe was avoided. In addition, tough measures helped to restrain the spread of the epidemic certain regions”, – said Savino.
Moreover, according to the expert, the Italian economy is now in a very difficult situation. So, according to some forecasts, the country’s GDP may decline by 9-14%, and for such sectors of the economy as the hotel and restaurant business and tourism in general, this will turn into a real tragedy.
“We hope that the demands of our government will be heard in Brussels and that the “phase number 2” will be well thought out so that you do not have to resort to a complete closure due to new infections (as happened in Hong Kong and Singapore). The Italian economy needs big state and European investment, and the Italian people need more trust”, – Savino concluded.
The Italian Council of Ministers on January 31 adopted a decree introducing a six-month emergency regime in the country in connection with the spread of COVID-19. Since March 10, quarantine measures introduced earlier in several northern regions of the country have been extended to the entire national territory. Most enterprises and institutions in Italy have suspended their work.
In early April, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the signing of a government decree, according to which measures to curb the spread of coronavirus were extended until April 13. Before the Easter holidays, the Prime Minister said that the duration of these events is extended until May 3.
According to the latest official data, as of Wednesday, in Italy more than 187 thousand cases of infection with a new type of coronavirus were recorded, over 54 thousand patients recovered, the total number of victims exceeded 25 thousand people.
On Monday, the number of people infected with coronavirus decreased for the first time since the start of the epidemic: without taking into account those who recovered and died in one day, it decreased by 20 people. In addition, the number of patients in intensive care units is steadily decreasing. The data of recent days, according to experts, indicate a decline in the epidemiological curve.