COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

[11] On 8 March 2020, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expanded the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, and on the following day to all of Italy, placing more than 60 million people in lockdown.

[35] In late January 2020, following the developments of COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China, on 3 February, Italy set up enhanced screening measures, including thermal cameras and medical staff at airports.

[46] The Ministry of Health provided a website and a direct line (1500) from which people could obtain the latest updates and information, as well as report suspected cases.

[76] Additional toll-free numbers were added for other regions — Aosta Valley 800122121, Trentino Alto Adige 800751751, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 800500300, Toscana 800556060, Umbria 800636363, Marche 800936677 and Lazio 800118800.

[82] Multiple regions in Italy such as Liguria, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Abruzzo and Marche decided to close all schools and universities for two days to a week.

Police issued warnings that criminals were using false identities and posing as health inspectors to gain access to people's homes to steal money, jewellery and other valuables.

[106] The Italian Minister of University and Research, Gaetano Manfredi, announced that online lessons would be delivered to students in areas affected by the outbreak starting on 2 March.

[112] The Italian Winter Sports Federation decided to proceed with the Women's World Cup alpine skiing races at La Thuile, Aosta Valley on 29 February.

[135] This measure was described as the largest lockdown in the history of Europe,[136][137] as well as the most aggressive response taken in any region beyond China, and paralysed the wealthiest parts of the country as Italy attempted to constrain the rapid spread of the disease.

[148] On 9 March, the government announced that all sporting events in Italy would be cancelled until at least 3 April, but the ban did not include Italian clubs or national teams participating in international competitions.

[149] In the evening, Conte 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 approximately 60 million people in lockdown.

[160] On 21 March, Conte announced further restrictions within the nationwide lockdown, by halting all non-essential production, industries and businesses in Italy, following the rise in the number of new cases and deaths in the previous days.

[161] This measure had also been strongly asked for by multiple institutions, including trade unions, mayors, and regional presidents, as well as medical professionals, but was initially opposed by the industrialists.

[169] On 8 April, a government's decree closed all Italian ports until 31 July, stating that they do not ensure the necessary requirements for the classification and definition of "safe place", established by the Hamburg Rules on maritime search and rescue.

The start of the vaccination campaign on 27 December 2020 did not limit the spread of the virus in the population that is still vulnerable, but safeguarded doctors and health professionals and partly the elderly and immuno-depressed patients.

[197] Due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in August, Italy's health minister, Roberto Speranza announced the closure of nightclubs in some parts of the country and made masks mandatory between 6 pm and 6 am, in crowded areas and at social gatherings.

[216] To contain the spread of new variants, in August 2021 the government extended the requirement of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, also known as "Green Pass", to the participation in sports events and music festivals, but also to the access to indoor places like bars, restaurants and gyms, as well as to long-distance public transportation.

The post, which reached global notoriety, contained a photo of her bruised face from wearing unfit masks and hazmat goggles, and stated that "the protective devices are bad."

"[232][233] On 17 March, undersecretary at the Ministry of Health Sandra Zampa announced the purchase of many new ventilators as well as the importing of one and a half million masks from South Africa.

[242][243][244] A letter published on the NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery claimed that one of the reasons for the high death count in the area of Bergamo was hospital contamination.

[255][258][259] Similarly to France, hydroxychloroquine (the less toxic version of the malaria drug chloroquine) was also tested:[255][260] in Lazio, its use was reported by the second week of April on a significant fraction of the roughly a thousand COVID-19 patients confined at home.

[266] In the beginning of April, based on the results of autopsies showing the presence of micro-thrombosis in the lungs of COVID-19 patients, doctors in Tuscany and other areas of northern Italy started to use heparin to reduce the risk of blood clotting;[267][268][269] the news was originally circulating on social media from internal chats of healthcare workers and considered a hoax by virologist Roberto Burioni,[270][271] but protocols including low-molecular-weight heparin were formally submitted as a treatment proposal to AIFA.

The sectors of tourism, accommodation and food services were among the hardest hit by foreign countries' limitations to travel to Italy, and by the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government on 8 March.

[315] Using 3D-printer technology as well, Elmec Informatica started to produce for the hospital of Busto Arsizio, sterilisable protective masks in thermoplastic polyurethanes that could adapt to Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) antiviral filters.

[317] On 25 March, Italy, together with Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, sent a joint letter to the Council of the EU, calling for the issuing of a new common debt instrument, nicknamed in the media as "eurobond" or "corona bond", to help funding the measures taken against the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected economic downturn to follow.

[319][320] On 9 April, after two meetings of the Eurogroup, the ministers of Finances of the Eurozone countries agreed to €500 billion aid, including the possibility of using the ESM, but without common debt instruments.

This came after Vincenzo De Luca, President of the Campania region, said that he was considering imposing a total lockdown, closing schools, businesses and leaving only essential services open, to prevent further spread of the virus.

[296] Top Italian figures have condemned an article in a German newspaper suggesting the mafia was waiting for an influx of European Union cash amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said, "Die Welt, an important German newspaper, urged Europe this morning to not help Italy because 'the mafia is waiting for money from Brussels'".

[355][356] Fewer frogs and toads were killed on the roads due to the lower car traffic; birds such as the common swift and the Kentish plover had more favourable conditions to reproduce, and some invasive species such as the American cottontail rabbit also propagated more rapidly.