The Wall Street Journal - 11.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Wednesday, March 11, 2020 |A

Let’s keep our fingers crossed

and hope it works,” said Anto-

nio Castellucci, who has a fruit-

and-vegetable stand in a Ro-

man market. “I wish the gov-

ernment had done this earlier.

They should have copied the

Chinese right away.”

After much confusion about

what people are allowed to do,

the Italian government on Tues-

day issued a question-and-an-

swer sheet that addressed some

doubts. For example, people are

allowed to exercise outdoors, as

long as they aren’t in groups.

Italy is relying heavily on

people to police themselves and

stay home as much as possible.

To raise awareness, the govern-

ment is pushing a social-media

campaign—“ Io resto a casa ,” or

I’m staying home.

Police in Rome began stop-

ping people on the streets and

inside the main Termini train

station to check if they should be

traveling. Police were also seen

ensuring people respected the

minimum distance with others.

Giacomo Cimini, who runs a

small bar in Rome’s Testaccio

neighborhood, said the govern-

ment had no choice but to take

the measures, but that perhaps

they should have been even

more severe. His bar was open

Tuesday morning, though he

had already seen a 75% drop in

business in the past 10 days.

In Milan, which was already

locked down on Sunday, the

number of people in the streets

has declined in recent days, an

indication that the country’s

business capital has begun to

take the coronavirus crisis

more seriously.

Some Milanese were out

walking dogs. A limited number

of cars ferried people to work.

But some businesses, restau-

rants and bars that had been

open in recent days had signs

saying they would remain closed

until April 3, when the nation-

wide lockdown is due to end.

Post offices were open in

Milan on Tuesday, and public

transport continued to run,

though trams, buses and the

metro have carried a fraction of

riders they normally have.

In Rome, much as happened

in Milan when restrictions were

first applied, people rushed to

supermarkets to stock up on

food on Monday evening, when

the prime minister announced

the lockdown.

Italians responded with res-
ignation and stoicism to an un-
precedented nationwide quaran-
tine to fight the coronavirus, as
some European countries began
to tighten their own restrictions
on travelers from the peninsula.

Austria banned Italians from
entering the country unless they
have a medical certificate and
warned its citizens not to travel
to Italy. Spain suspended flights
to and from Italy until March

25. Several airlines followed
    suit, including British Airways.
    Ryanair said it would suspend
    Italian domestic flights starting
    Wednesday and international
    services to Italy starting Friday.
    Germany’s Foreign Ministry
    broadened its travel warning for
    northern Italy to the whole
    country, advising people to
    make only essential trips.
    France, which is facing its own
    rapid expansion of the virus,
    hasn’t placed any restrictions
    on travel to and from Italy.
    Italy’s coronavirus outbreak
    is the world’s biggest after
    China’s, and Italy’s daily death
    toll overtook China’s in the past
    week. By Tuesday, total infec-
    tions in Italy had reached 10,149,
    an increase of 11% from Monday,
    after many days of increases
    close to 25%. Total deaths, how-
    ever, rose 36% on Tuesday to
    631, as hospitals in the worst-hit
    parts of northern Italy reported
    a growing struggle to cope with

By Giovanni Legorano

in Rome

and Eric Sylvers

in Milan

THE CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC

a flood of patients in their in-

tensive-care units.

The crisis in northern Italy’s

hospitals was a major factor

that pushed the government to

quarantine the northern part of

the country on Sunday, followed

by the nationwide lockdown for

all 60 million inhabitants late

Monday. Health experts have

said for weeks that the only

way to reduce rocketing infec-

tions is to radically curb peo-

ple’s social interactions.

Under the national quaran-

tine Prime Minister Giuseppe

Conte announced Monday

night, travel to, from and

within Italy is permitted only if

it is demonstrably necessary

for work or health reasons.

All gatherings in public are

banned, and people must main-

tain a distance of at least one

meter, or just over 3 feet, in

shops, churches and other pub-

lic places. Restaurants and bars

must close at 6 p.m. Schools,

universities, cinemas and muse-

ums are closed across Italy. The

Vatican announced Tuesday

that St. Peter’s Basilica and

Square would be closed to the

public until April 3.

The government has asked

employees to take vacation un-

til April 3 if they can. Workers

can go to their office or factory,

but must be prepared to de-

clare it in writing as necessary

if police stop them.

Across Italy on Tuesday, an

eerie quiet settled on normally

bustling cities. Rome’s piazzas

were almost deserted and cafes

had few customers, as the Italian

capital spent its first day under

quarantine. Many Italians seemed

resigned to their new reality.

Some Italians wondered if

the country should have moved

more decisively earlier. “The

lockdown is the only thing that

could be done at this point.

Italians Start

Adjusting

To Lockdown

European countries

tighten travel curbs,

leaving virus-racked

nation further isolated

Italy’s coronavirus outbreak is the world’s biggest after China’s. Above, people keep their distance outside a post office in Rome.

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Families, Businesses

To Get a Debt Break

Italy is planning to introduce

a large-scale moratorium on

debt repayments, including

mortgages, to help families and

businesses cope with the coro-

navirus outbreak.

The announcement, made

by Italy’s Deputy Economy Min-

ister Laura Castelli in a radio in-

terview, follows the govern-

ment’s decision to lock down

the entire country. Economists

expect the shutdown to lead to

a sharp economic slowdown.

“We have pushed the bank-

ing system a lot to help as much

as they can and we got full col-

laboration,” Ms. Castelli said.

All mortgages will be sus-

pended, as well as repayments

of small loans and revolving

credit lines that companies use

to have enough liquidity, she

said.

The program underscores

the seriousness of the economic

challenge Italy faces. Last week,

Italy’s government earmarked

€7.5 billion ($8.6 billion) to help

the ailing economy and strug-

gling health-care sector, but the

figure could rise to more than

€10 billion, officials said.

Relieving consumers and

business from paying back debt

could cushion the economy but

complicates how Italy’s fragile

banking system copes with the

loss of revenue.

Italian banks have long been

seen as a weak link in the Eu-

ropean financial system.

Stuffed with bad loans and suf-

fering under an anemic econ-

omy, several have failed or

been combined in the wake of

last decade’s Europe-wide sov-

ereign-debt crisis.

The government hasn’t pro-

vided details on the plan pub-

licly.

—Patricia Kowsmann

622 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA • 877-677-2801 • [email protected] • msrau.com

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