‘This is not a film’: Italian mayors rage at virus lockdown dodgers
A compilation video of mayors lambasting people for flouting coronavirus quarantine rules has struck a chord with Italians, who have shared it in their thousands on social media.
Although the majority of Italy’s population of 62 million are complying with the regulations, the interior ministry said on Monday that 92,367 citizens had been charged for breaking them since the lockdown was enforced. Police now have permission to use drones as controls are upped across the country, and the army is patrolling the streets in some places.
People have been jogging, playing ping-pong on the beach and walking their dogs more often than usual as an excuse to venture out.
One of the mayors said: “I saw a fellow citizen amiably jog up and down the street, accompanied by a dog that was visibly worn out. I stopped and told him: ‘Look, this isn’t a film. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend. So, you have to go home.’”
Another said: “Where the fuck are you all going? You and your dogs … which must have an inflamed prostate?”
The death toll from the outbreak rose by 601 on Monday, an increase to 6,077 but a decline in the daily rate from 651 on Sunday and 793 on Saturday. Giulio Gallera, the welfare councillor for Lombardy, the region worst hit, said: “It is not the time to sing victory but we finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The Italian government on Sunday banned any travel inside the country and closed all non-essential businesses to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and post offices are among businesses permitted to keep trading.
Italians are banned from moving across municipalities other than for “non-deferrable and proven business or health reasons or other urgent matters”.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte told La Stampa on Monday that “everyone’s efforts are needed as the survival of the social and economic fabric of our country is at stake”.
But “too many people are still out and about” despite the new lockdown rules, according to Attilio Fontana, the president of Lombardy, the region worst affected by the virus. “I hope more rigorous norms can be applied,” he told Italian TV.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that on Sunday police stopped 120 people from Milan who were trying to board a train to the south of the country.
Citizens must complete a self-declaration form to justify why they were leaving their home, with the only valid reasons being for work, health-related issues or to go to the supermarket.
One of the most serious transgressions happened last week in Sciacca, Sicily, when a man who had tested positive for Covid-19 was discovered by police while out shopping, despite the strict order to self-isolate at home. Another man, aged 60, who had also tested positive, was charged by police as he walked his dog in Lavinio, in the Lazio region.
Officers have also come across people who were dishonest on the forms, writing that they were “going shopping” when instead they were doing something else.
Roma Today reported on Saturday that two men went out to sell drugs. Others have written they went out for “love” so that they could meet their partners, and two women wrote they were visiting their elderly and sick aunt, who turned out to be a healthy woman in her 40s. Others said they were going to work, when in fact they were meeting friends for a game of cards.