COVID-19 pandemic

In February 2020, Italy became one of the world's main centres for confirmed cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that originated in China.^[29] As of January 2021^[update], more than 2,250,000 coronavirus cases and 78,000 deaths were confirmed, affecting mainly Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont.^[30]

In late January, the government banned all flights from and to China, becoming the first European country to adopt this measure.^[31] On 22 February, the Council of Ministers announced a bill to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, quarantining more than 50,000 people from 11 different municipalities in Northern Italy. Prime Minister Conte stated: "In the outbreak areas, entry and exit will not be provided. Suspension of work activities and sport events has already been ordered in those areas."^[32]

Schools were closed in 10 municipalities in Lombardy, one in Veneto and in Emilia-Romagna. In some areas, all public events were cancelled and commercial activities were halted.^[33] Regional train services suspended the stops in the most affected areas – with trains not stopping at Codogno, Maleo and Casalpusterlengo stations.^[34][35] Universities in Lombardy suspended all activities from 23 February.^[36][37] After few days, schools and universities closed in the whole country.^[38]

On 24 February, Speranza appointed Walter Ricciardi, a member of World Health Organization's executive committee and former president of Italian National Institute of Health, as a special adviser for relations between Italy and international health organisations.^[39]

On 8 March 2020, Prime Minister Conte extended the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, putting more than a quarter of the national population under lockdown.^[40] On the following day, he announced in a press conference that all measures previously applied only in the so-called "red zones" had been extended to the whole country, putting de facto 60 million people in lockdown. He later proceeded to officially sign the executive decree.^[41][42] This measure was described as the largest lockdown in human history.^{[43][44][45][46]}

On 20 March, Minister Speranza ordered tighter regulations on free movement. The new measures banned open-air sports and running, except individually and in close proximity of one's residence. Parks, playgrounds and public green were closed down. Furthermore, movement across the country was further restricted, by banning "any movement towards a residence different from the main one", including holiday homes, during weekends and holidays.^[47] While on the following day, Conte announced further restrictions within the nationwide lockdown, by halting all non-essential production, industries and businesses in Italy,^[48] following the rise in the number of new cases and deaths in the previous days.^[49][50]

On 24 March, in a live-streamed press conference, Prime Minister Conte announced a new decree approved by the Council of Ministers. The decree imposed higher fines for the violation of the restrictive measures, and a regulation of the relationship between government and Parliament during the emergency. It included also the possibility of reducing or suspending public and private transport, and gave the regional governments power to impose additional restrictive regulations in their Regions for a maximum of seven days before being confirmed by national decree.^[51][52]

On 1 April, the government extended the period of lockdown until 13 April.^[53] While on 6 April, Conte announced a new economic stimulus plan, consisting of €200 billion of state-guaranteed loans to companies and additional €200 billion of guarantees to support exports.^[54] On 10 April, Conte made further announcements extending the lockdown until 3 May, allowing some specific businesses, like bookstores and silviculture activities, to reopen under specific safe measures.^[55]

On 26 April, Conte and Speranza announced the so-called "Phase 2", that would start from May 4. Movements across regions were still forbidden, while the ones between municipalities and provinces were allowed only for work and health reasons as well as for visit relatives.^[56] Moreover, he allowed the re-opening of closed factories, but schools, bars, restaurants and barbers were still closed.^[57] On 18 May, the lockdown officially ended and the government allowed the re-openings of bars, restaurants, barbers and gyms. However, travels across regions were still limited.^[58]

On 1 June, the Ministry of Health launched the Immuni App ("Immune App"),^[59] a contact-tracing app, designed to help Italy manage the so-called "Phase 2" of the coronavirus crisis.^[60] The app aimed to notify users at risk of carrying the virus as early as possible, even when they were asymptomatic. These users can then self-isolate to avoid infecting others.^[61] Despite harsh criticism from the opposition, which accused the government of establishing an Orwell-like Big Brother,^[62] in the first two days the app was downloaded by more than a million people.^[63]

On 16 August, after an increasing in the daily number of cases, Minister Speranza closed all the discos and night clubs of the country and imposed to wear a mask outdoors in some areas, considered at risk of crowding.^[64]