• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Donald Trump
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • US Election
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

Coronavirus Outbreak Exacerbates Italy’s Political Divisions

Faced with a public health emergency, Italy is missing the opportunity to exhibit a sense of national cohesion — its Achilles’ heel since unification in 1861.
By Valerio Alfonso Bruno • Feb 27, 2020
Italy coronavirus news, Italy COVID-19 outbreak, Italy coronavirus outbreak, Italy coronavirus deaths, Italy coronavirus infections, Italy coronavirus effect on economy, Venice carnival cancelled, coronavirus affected countries, Matteo Salvini coronavirus, Italy coronavirus response

Milan, Italy, 2/22/2020 © praszkiewicz / Shutterstock

On February 21, Italy woke up to reports of the country’s first case of COVID-19: a 38- year-old manager from Codogno, a small town located roughly 55 kilometers southeast of Milan. Six days later, the cases of the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province in December last year, are up to 528, with 14 dead, making Italy’s the third-largest outbreak outside China and South Korea, with 78,514 and 1,766 cases respectively at the time of writing. The bulk of coronavirus cases are so far concentrated in northern Italy, in particular in the regions of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna.

The initial reaction by the Italian authorities came in the form of scattered orders. The first decision concerned the creation of a “zona rossa,” a red zone around the 10 municipalities in Lombardy, close to Codogno and Vo’ Euganeo in Veneto, where the outbreak took place, encompassing nearly 50,000 people. Those areas were put under strict quarantine, with a sanitary cordon enforced by the police and the Italian army. Universities in Veneto, followed by Lombardy, decided to close their doors for one week on February 22, and the next morning came the decision to close all schools in Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Piemonte.


Will a Struggling Global Economy Survive the Coronavirus?

READ MORE


Across Lombardy and other northern regions, all social activity was limited, and cafes, bars, cinemas, theaters, gyms, etc., closed. Important events such as the Venice Carnival and the Milan Fashion Week were canceled, while football matches and other sporting tournaments were postponed. While central and southern Italy saw no significant variation to the daily routine, some regions like Molise and Basilicata, along with some local municipalities, opened emergency registers requesting travelers from northern Italy to observe a two-week quarantine.

Untimely Political Controversies

The exceptional circumstances related to the sudden health emergency in northern Italy did not prevent political controversies from igniting. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte accused the leader of the League party, Matteo Salvini, of lacking political responsibility, being the only member of the opposition refusing to be in contact with the government during the crisis.

Salvini had previously accused Conte and the whole Italian executive of having underestimated and miscalculated the risks related to COVID-19, using the outbreak as an opportunity for political campaigning. As reported by The Guardian, Salvini said: “The government has underestimated the coronavirus. Allowing the migrants to land from Africa, where the presence of the virus was confirmed, is irresponsible.”

Political confrontation was not limited to Salvini, however. When Conte had suggested the possibility that something could have gone wrong during the initial management of the emergency at the hospital in Codogno, the governor of the Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, who is a member of the League party, accused the prime minister of ungenerously making Lombardy a scapegoat for the mistakes made by the government. Conte also had to face an embarrassing lack of coordination across the country, announcing that he might take on the special powers normally vested in the regions in order to ensure a prompt and organized response to the emergency.

Another element of harsh political confrontation was the possibility of closing Italy’s borders, as suggested, among others, by Salvini and the leader of France’s National Rally, Marine Le Pen. However, the European Union clearly opposed the idea of temporarily halting the free movement of people in the Schengen area, labeling it as unnecessary.

Economic Costs

The economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the already fragile Italian economy will be considerable. The Lombardy and Veneto regions are Italy’s most productive, and an important part of their economy is based on tourism, exhibitions and big events like the Milan Fashion Week, the Venice Carnival and the Salone del Mobile. The added costs of the closure of social venues will be a big hit to their cities’ budgets.

The New York Times headline reads, “Coronavirus Stalls Milan, Italy’s Economic Engine,” while Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s most reputable financial publication, warns: “The biggest fear is that Milan and high-performing northern Italy may end up being paralyzed by the virus. The two clusters of the infection, Lombardia and Veneto, make up more than 30% of the Italian GDP. According to Istat, the national institute of statistics, Lombardy alone accounts for more than 22% of national GDP (390 billion euros out of 1.7 trillion euros) while Veneto accounts for more than 9% (163 billion euros). Lombardia is home of more than 900,000 firms and its export topped 127 billion euros in 2018, a +5,2% year by year increase.”

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

The Italian government is already considering economic and fiscal measures to support the areas more severely hit by the outbreak, and it is highly probable that the European Union will offer Italy a hand. The vice president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, said on Tuesday that the commission will be “flexible” with Italy and other member states affected by the coronavirus outbreak when it comes to meeting their fiscal targets.

While other countries come together in the face of emergency, Italy is missing the opportunity to exhibit a sense of national cohesion — its Achilles’ heel since unification in 1861. The country looks to be in a state of chaos, once again politically polarized and socially divided into opposite teams: Salvini versus Conte, the central executive versus the regions, the north versus the south.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Share Story
Categories360° Analysis, Coronavirus, Europe, Europe News, European politics news, Health, Insight, Politics, World Leaders News, World News Tagscoronavirus affected countries latest, coronavirus death toll Italy, coronavirus infections Italy, coronavirus news, coronavirus outbreak latest news, Giuseppe Conte coronavirus response, Giuseppe Conte Matteo Salvini coronavirus, Giuseppe Conte Matteo Salvini news, Italy coronavirus outbreak news, Italy economy coronavirus
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

READ MORE IN THIS 360° SERIES

In Sierra Leone, COVID-19 Could Make Maternal Mortality Worse
By Emma Minor • Jul 06, 2020
Herd Immunity May Be Our Best Hope
By Daniel Wagner & Mark Eckley • Jul 06, 2020
The EU Should Collect Health Data Centrally
By Susan Bergner & Isabell Kump • Jun 29, 2020
How Will COVID-19 Change Our World?
By Atul Singh • Jun 26, 2020
How Mismanaging a Pandemic Can Cost Countries Their Soft Power
By Valerio Alfonso Bruno • Jun 18, 2020
COVID-19 Contact Tracing: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?
By Claire Downing • Jun 10, 2020
If the Pandemic Is a “War,” Then India Needs to Spend More
By Bobby Ramakant, Sandeep Pandey & Shobha Shukla • Jun 08, 2020
What Is the Key to Tunisia Successfully Beating COVID-19?
By Bill Law • Jun 08, 2020
The Humanitarian Disaster Before Us: COVID-19 in Somalia
By Arden Bentley • Jun 06, 2020
East Africa Faces a Cascade of Crises
By Bettina Rudloff & Annette Weber • Jun 04, 2020
The Swiss People’s Party Versus COVID-19
By Hans-Georg Betz • Jun 03, 2020
The 2020 Pandemic Election
By Saurabh Jha • May 29, 2020
COVID-19 Casts a Shadow Over Swedish Exceptionalism
By Mette Wiggen • May 21, 2020
Has COVID-19 Launched a New Era of Deadly Pandemics?
By I.P. Singh & Atul Singh • May 19, 2020
COVID-19 Arrives in Refugee Camps
By Phil Cole • May 18, 2020
The Worst President at the Worst Time
By Larry Beck • May 14, 2020
South Korea Faces Challenges in a Post-Coronavirus World
By Thomas Kalinowski • May 13, 2020
Debunking Trump’s China Nonsense
By John Feffer • May 08, 2020
Global Health Policy Is World Politics
By Susan Bergner, Maike Voss & Nadine Godehardt • May 07, 2020
Will We Ever Know the True Origin of COVID-19?
By Daniel Wagner • May 06, 2020
COVID-19: What Indonesia Can Learn From South Korea and Taiwan
By Luthfi Dhofier • May 05, 2020
Brazil Struggles to Find a Unified Approach to the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Thiago Alves Ferreira & Stephanie Fillion • May 05, 2020
Narendra Modi Is Fighting COVID-19 With Little Logic
By Satish Jha • May 01, 2020
What You Need to Know About the COVID-19 Crisis in the US
By Sunil Asnani & Kshitij Bhatia • Apr 30, 2020
History Will Judge Britain’s COVID-19 Response
By Rupert Hodder • Apr 30, 2020
China’s Uncertain Recovery From COVID-19
By Maa Zhi Hong • Apr 29, 2020
Rohingya Refugee Camps Are the Next Frontline in COVID-19 Fight
By Daniel Sullivan • Apr 28, 2020
Brazil Is Heading Into a Perfect Storm
By Lenin Cavalcanti Guerra • Apr 28, 2020
India's Tactical Victory on HCQ Misses the Bigger Picture
By Mauktik Kulkarni • Apr 27, 2020
Will COVID-19 Alter the Global Order?
By Joel Blankenship • Apr 27, 2020
South Korea Shows the Way Forward for Post-Pandemic Recovery
By John Feffer • Apr 24, 2020
Why Maximum Pressure on Venezuela Is the Only Way Out
By Leonardo Vivas • Apr 22, 2020
Can the WHO Restore Credibility After Its Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
By Hans-Georg Betz • Apr 22, 2020
For Cybercriminals, a Global Pandemic Presents an Opportunity
By Beau Peters • Apr 17, 2020
Playing Catch-Up With the Next Pandemic
By John Feffer • Apr 17, 2020
The Politics Behind the Coronavirus in Brazil
By Helder Ferreira do Vale • Apr 15, 2020
Remembering the Easter Sunday Victims in the Shadow of COVID-19
By Amjad Saleem • Apr 14, 2020
China's Mask Diplomacy Won't Change the World Order
By Brennan Kau • Apr 09, 2020
How the US Government Failed to Prepare for a Pandemic
By Daniel Wagner • Apr 09, 2020
As President, Donald Trump Has a Duty
By Gary Grappo • Apr 08, 2020
Should We All Have Been Wearing Masks From the Start?
By Hans-Georg Betz • Apr 07, 2020
In Tajikistan, It’s Someone Else’s Virus
By Andrea Schmitz • Apr 06, 2020
Why Are Mexico and Brazil So Slow in Reacting to COVID-19?
By Lenin Cavalcanti Guerra • Apr 01, 2020
Are We Wrong About COVID-19 Death Rates?
By Daniel Wagner • Mar 31, 2020
One Antidote to Coronavirus: More Multilateralism
By Gary Grappo • Mar 30, 2020
Saudi Arabia’s Wars on Three Fronts
By Bill Law • Mar 30, 2020
The Politics of the Coronavirus
By John Feffer • Mar 27, 2020
What the Coronavirus Says About Us
By John Feffer • Mar 24, 2020
Why It’s Taking Britain So Long to Tackle COVID-19
By Rupert Hodder • Mar 23, 2020
COVID-19: What Italy and the US Are Doing Wrong
By Valerio Alfonso Bruno • Mar 10, 2020
The British Government Is About to Fail on Coronavirus
By Rupert Hodder • Mar 09, 2020
Coronavirus Outbreak Puts the World’s Governments on Notice
By Daniel Wagner • Mar 03, 2020
China’s Influence Dampens International Response to Coronavirus Outbreak
By Daniel Wagner • Feb 24, 2020
How Effective Is China’s Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak?
By Maa Zhi Hong • Feb 04, 2020

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Doubtful Information on What Is Doubtless Disinformation
Next PostNext #MeToo: Power, Let’s Talk About It
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept