Schools and universities closed across Italy to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, smart working in the public administration and football behind closed doors. Tight on cinbema, theater and shows. These are some of the exceptional and drastic measures that the Government is taking following the indications of the scientific commission which already on March 3 had invited the Executive to close the sporting events scheduled throughout the country for a month.
The most important news comes from schools and universities, which will remain closed throughout Italy from Thursday 5 March to Sunday 15 March. The decision, officially confirmed in the afternoon, was taken during the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 4 March and the decree will arrive in the evening. The aim is clear: to slow down the spread of the coronavirus in the most affected regions of Northern Italy and prevent an increase in cases of positivity to Covid-19 in the rest of the country.
The official announcement was made by the Minister of Education Lucia Azzolina: "It was not a simple decision for the government, we waited for the opinion of the technical-scientific committee and we decided to suspend teaching activities from tomorrow to 15 March", he said. said Azzolina.
The Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte explained: "We took this decision after consulting Professor Silvio Brusaferro, president of the Higher Institute of Health".
Meanwhile also public administrations are called to organize themselves. The invitation, contained in the circular of the Minister of Public Administration, Fabiana Dadone, is to encourage smart working. In the event that there are not enough computers available, the employee "who makes himself available" will also be able to use "his own devices" such as PCs or tablets. Furthermore, “adequate levels of security and network protection” must be guaranteed.
A solution has also been found for football. After the postponement of both Coppa Italia semi-finals, Napoli-Inter and Juventus-Milan, the league matches will be played without spectators at the stadium until 3 April. The news had been anticipated by the minister Vincenzo Spadafora: “On sport we will try to contemplate the continuation of all the activities and also of the championship but with respect for everyone's health. Games behind closed doors? We are moving towards this type of measure,” said the minister.
As for the other measures, the Government ordered the suspension of events, public and private that involve crowding of people. Measures aimed at strengthening the health system have been prepared, in particular by providing for a 50% increase in beds in intensive care, increasingly under pressure due to the spread of the coronavirus, and a 100% increase in the pulmonology and infectious disease departments.
(Last update: 10.46 on 5 March)
