As of tonight, March 9th around 9.40 pm, Italy has officially become the “red zone” or zona rossa as Premier Conte has officially announced in his statement to Italian public. What this means is that you are only officially allowed to move around for work, health or some particular reasons (say, you landed in Venice airport and you need to get home to Trieste). What this means for Italy is that most people will need to stay in their neighborhoods as much as they can. What this means for Trieste? Many people who live across the border (for example, in Slovenia) will not be able to get to work and vice versa. Being a border town, it’s not only normal but very common to cross the border a few times a week (say, to stock up on Slovenian groceries or fill up your gas tank which costs less in our neighboring country). PM Conte also mentioned (as was expected) that all schools and universities will remain closed until April 3rd.
Meanwhile Italian social networks have been promoting the #iostoacasa hashtag which literally means “I’m staying at home”, inviting all Italian citizens to stay put and lay low while the Italian government and health care professionals figure things out.
Italian government invites everyone to do their part to keep themselves and others safe and not add unnecessary burden to Italian healthcare system. In the end big thanks went to all the medical professionals working very hard to take care of everyone.
I welcome the Premier’s decision.