​ Italy’s big error that led to lockdown ​

Italian authorities have been accused of mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and allowing it to spread faster than it should have.

Italian journalist Mattia Ferraresi, who writes for Italian newspaper Il Foglio, said the Italian Government allowed the virus to dramatically spread by underestimating the virus, and playing politics with its outbreak.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Ferraresi said the latest decree to quarantine the whole nation is “infused with ambiguous signals and hard-to-interpret provisions”, such as vague travel rules and exemptions.
 

Italy is now one of the worst afflicted globally for the coronavirus, with its death count of 763 people exceeded only by China and Iran.

The virus spread rapidly because the first person infected in the country was in the asymptomatic phase — that is, they showed no symptoms and could spread the virus undetected.

Infection began in Lombardy, now the epicentre of the outbreak in the country’s north, on February 21. By February 25, Italy had confirmed its first case in the south, and by March 1 infections had exceeded 1500.

But experts say the virus may have seeded before flights in January, before flights between Italy and China were suspended.

University of Milan professor of infectious diseases and director of infectious diseases at the Luigi Sacco hospital in Milan, Massimo Galli, said: “I can’t absolutely confirm any safe estimate of the time of the circulation of the virus in Italy, but some first evidence suggests that the circulation of the virus is not so recent in Italy.

“The virus circulated for several weeks before people were identified and sick people were found.

“People became infected without significant symptoms. The number of patients will increase in the next days.”

When the virus first reached Italy, the Italian Government ignored calls for measures to quarantine every single passenger arriving from China.

The push largely came from the League’s Matteo Salvini, the leader of the country’s far-right political party, who was accused of using the outbreak to push an anti-immigration agenda.

Walter Ricciardi, a member of the WHO European Advisory Committee, later said that it was a “great mistake” not to go through with these suggested measures.

“Salvini was widely attacked for using the medical emergency as a fig leaf to push his trademark anti-immigration and xenophobic rhetoric — but for once he actually had a point, albeit for the wrong reasons,” said Ferraresi.
 

On January 30, the Italian Government cancelled direct flights to and from China. But this, Ferraresi says, was a “mistake” that just made it more difficult to track down the flow of people from areas hit hardest by the epidemic.

At the same time, tourists were still reaching Italy through connecting flights elsewhere in Europe.

Ferraresi also suggested “publicity-hungry” virologists were to blame, saying Italian media had become flooded with “medical experts” offering contradictory information about the dangers of the virus, which further led to confusion and panic in the public.

“For several weeks, Italians have been more divided about their preferred virologists than they are about soccer teams,” Ferraresi wrote.

“If its dysfunctional political system, amateurish ruling class, and shortsighted leaders continue to squabble while Italians die, Rome’s response could end up making the authoritarians in Beijing – despite their initial cover-ups – look more competent in moments of crisis.”

Italy’s high death rate has also been attributed to its large elderly population, with the vast majority of those killed over 60 years old.

“Italy is a country of old people,” said Prof Galli. “The elderly with previous pathologies are notoriously numerous here. I think this could explain why we are seeing more serious cases of coronavirus here, which I repeat, in the vast majority of cases start mildly and cause few problems, especially in young people and certainly in children.

“Our life expectancy is among the highest in the world. But unfortunately, in a situation like this, old people are more at risk of a serious outcome.”
 

The whole of Italy has gone into lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak, after the death toll jumped by 97 in a single day.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced restrictions on public gatherings would be extended to cover the whole country, rather than just the epicentre of the outbreak in the north.

“Restrictions will include banning all public gatherings and preventing all movement other than for work and emergencies,” Mr Conte said.

The restrictions will take effect on Tuesday and like those in northern Italy will last until April 3, he said.

“There won’t be just a red zone,” he told reporters, referring to the quarantine order he signed for a vast swath of northern Italy with a population of 16 million over the weekend.

Mr Conte said the country’s “night life” of young people gathering to drink and enjoy themselves would no longer be permitted.

“We can’t allow this anymore,” he said. Restaurants and cafes have also been ordered to close at dusk.

All sporting events, including Series A, the nation’s top soccer league, have also been suspended. Schools and universities will also remain closed as part of the measures.

The country’s death toll now sits at 463, marking a 20 per cent increase in just 24 hours. A total of 75 per cent of the deaths are aged between 70 and 89, with 13 per cent aged over 90, 10 per cent in their 60s and just 1 per cent in their 50s.

The total number of cases in Italy has risen to 9172, the largest daily increase since the virus first emerged there on February 11.