As of Sunday, Italy has added additional coronavirus measures on the entire country, including restrictions on travel and the ban of any public meetings. Their prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, ordered that individuals stay home and has restricted people from gathering in public. Additionally, he recommends that people limit contact with any outside sources. Individuals should only travel if necessary, which is to be determined with government approval. Essentially, only people who have a work or valid family reason are allowed to travel. People who are leaving Italy or are coming into the country have to justify themselves. However, temporary visitors are excluded from these rules. Cruise ships are banned from docking at many ports within the country. Before being able to use public transportation, all passengers must be checked for symptoms of Covid-19. Also, he has suspended all sporting events. All schools and universities have to remain closed until April 3rd or until any further notice. During a televised address on Monday, Mr. Conte said to the public that “[they] all must give something up for the good of Italy''. These precautions have been put into place because the Coronavirus death toll in Italy has risen from 366 to 463 and all 20 regions of Italy have been affected. Thus, it's the most infected country aside from China.
- Is the government's strict restriction on travel in and out of the country an excessive precaution that they are taking?
- Should those who are just temporary visitors be held to the same standards as those who are living in Italy?
- Do you think the precautions that are in place are too extreme or should there be additional safety measures?
In response to question three, I think that the precautions that are in place will be successful in preventing the spread of the disease. I also think that it's important for the government and Prime Minister Conte to spread positivity and discourage hysteria among the population. In terms of additional measures, I think the government should broadcast periodically until the restrictions are lifted to ensure that the citizens of Italy are up to date on what is going on with the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI think that Italy's temporary visitors should be held to the same standard as its long term residents. If anything, they should be held to a higher standard because of the possibility of them bringing it into Italy (depending upon where they are traveling from). Not only does this help Italy as a whole, but it also helps prevent the tourists or temporary travels from contracting the sickness. I think putting a plan in place like this could help bring an end to the virus within Italy at a much faster rate than we may see in other areas of the world. However, this can only be done by making no exceptions to the precautions.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Italy's travel restrictions are excessive. This virus has been declared a pandemic and everyone is simply trying to handle it the best they can. Italy was the first European country to announce such strict travel restrictions. However, this was because they have experienced the second highest death rate from the COVID-19, their economy is falling, and their health care systems are overwhelmed. According to the New York Times, in one day, 1,598 more people were diagnosed with COVID-19. This is an exponentially growing problem that should be treated as such. They tried to be less severe at the beginning. When the virus was first announced they only locked down 11 towns, but it wasn't effective. Therefore, I think their travel bans are justified as this is a state of emergency for Italy.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/world/europe/italy-lockdown-coronavirus.html
The government's strict restriction on traveling in and out is not an excessive precaution. All countries should handle this restriction because it is one of the effective ways of fighting of the virus. Being on an airplane in closed quarters can higher the chance of getting the virus. People with the virus can get off planes and get others infected. It is important to take precautions such as these. There should be additional safety measures because this is a serious virus that can kill people and by taking these additional precautions we can lower the mortality rates.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Italy's temporary visitors should be held to the same standard as its long term visitors. This is because Italy and their residents may be doing everything they can to prevent the further spread of corona but then a temporary visitor may enter the country, held to a different standard, not practice good hygiene, and contribute the already bad situation there.
ReplyDeleteAll travel should be cut off/restricted because the spread of the virus is hard to contain and could kill many people. It will be successful and contained if people distance themselves socially. There should be additional safety measures to ensure the containment of the virus so the problem can end as quickly as possible.
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