As Italy became the second country most affected by the coronavirus

The Italian government has extended exceptional quarantine measures across the country to try to contain the epidemic of the new coronavirus . Previously restricted to northern Italy, the measures will now apply to the entire population of 60 million. In all, 7,375 infections have been registered, distributed in the 20 regions of Italy, and 366 deaths until this Monday, 9.

Italy is currently the second country most affected by the new coronavirus in the world, behind only China, where the Covid-19 epidemic emerged. The authorities still do not know how the disease arrived in the country and are looking for “patient 0”.

With the action announced by the government, restrictions were imposed on more than 15 million people, 25% of the population, including residents of Milan and Venice, a measure similar to that adopted by Beijing. Understand some of the reasons that may have led to the spread of the outbreak in the European nation and know what were the mistakes made by local authorities in containing the epidemic.

Heavy air traffic with China

The large number of cases of infections by the new coronavirus in Italy can be explained by the intense air traffic that the country maintains with China. The country has become the European nation that receives and sends the most flights to Chinese territory after a memorandum of understanding between the two countries was signed in January 2020 to expand tourism.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte admitted that the hospital that treated the country's first known case of coronavirus in Codogno, in the north, did not follow the protocol indicated for infectious diseases. The prime minister did not give details on how the recommendations were disregarded.

Although the origin of the outbreak has not been fully clarified, Italian authorities regard Mattia, 38, as "patient 1". The man was admitted to the emergency room at Codogno hospital on February 19 with respiratory problems. According to the local press, he spent 36 hours under observation at the site, during which he came into contact with other patients, doctors, employees, as well as family and friends.

Mattia was called "super contaminant" after at least 13 people in his surroundings were diagnosed with the disease. Among those infected were his pregnant wife, a friend he supposedly ran into, three elderly people who attended the bar run by his friend's father and eight hospital staff and patients.

Currently, the man is admitted to a hospital in the municipality of Pavia, after being transferred from the first center where he appeared. Your wife is stable. The Italian prosecutor's office opened an investigation to investigate the errors made by the hospital in the case.

Experts point out that Italy's poorly centralized administration, based on the strength of regional governments, may also have impacted the speed of response to the outbreak. Walter Ricciardi, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) and an adviser to the Italian government, admitted to journalists last week that it was difficult to organize responses at the regional level. 

"The measures that have been taken recently, that the Prime Minister and all ministers are currently discussing with the regions, are going in the right direction," he said. "But all the organization and management mechanisms are entrusted to the regions, unlike other countries that have a single command line, so it is no coincidence that they have fewer cases than we do today."

Analysts also pointed to the government's delay in restricting flights from the north to other parts of the country at the beginning of the epidemic as one of the factors that led to the expansion of the outbreak. Currently, the Lombardy region and 14 other provinces are in quarantine, but at the beginning of the epidemic, flights circulated normally and travelers were not monitored.

Delays in diagnostics

Some cases of late diagnosis of Covid-19 also caught the attention of the world press. One of the most talked about episodes was that of a 75-year-old man who died before the disease was identified.

A resident of the commune of San Marco in Lamis, the man infected his wife and daughter, who later came into contact with at least 70 family members at the Italian's funeral - who are all in quarantine today. Only after the body was released for burial was the test result that proved Covid-19's diagnosis released, with no time for authorities to stop the event.