https://doi.org/10.4081/itjm.2020.1366

The role of lockdowns and health policies for COVID-19 in Italy

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2021)
Submitted: 3 September 2020
Accepted: 27 October 2020
Published: 11 November 2020
Containment, health policy, respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2 virus, stringency index.
Abstract Views: 1444
PDF: 686
HTML: 32
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
jaimetex@yahoo.com
Independent researcher, Kagawa-ken, Japan.
Panagiotis Tsigaris
Department of Economics, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Italy initially flattened the curve after a stringent lockdown spanning from February 23 to early May but not without casualties, with 240,760 cases and 34,788 deaths on June 30, 2020. However, increasingly lax policies saw rising cases starting in August. Italy currently sits with 423,578 cases and 36,616 deaths (October 20, 2020). This retrospective observational study aimed to assess stringency policies related to nation-wide containment and closure, as well as health system instruments, to determine their potency. The first nationally implemented policy was on January 31, followed by a battery of strong restrictions imposed on February 22-23. The Stringency Index peaked at 93.5 on April 12. However, policies were relaxed following a flattening of the curve on May 4 when the Stringency Index went from 93.5 to 63.0. Italy's policies were essential to contain the spread of the virus initially, but the lax policies since the end of spring, especially related to school reopening, no stay-at-home and domestic travel restrictions, and reduced contact tracing, have now resurrected the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

PlumX Metrics

PlumX Metrics  provide insights into the ways people interact with individual pieces of research output (articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, and many more) in the online environment. Examples include, when research is mentioned in the news or is tweeted about. Collectively known as PlumX Metrics, these metrics are divided into five categories to help make sense of the huge amounts of data involved and to enable analysis by comparing like with like.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Lazzerini M, Putoto G. COVID-19 in Italy: momentous decisions and many uncertainties. Lancet Glob Health 2020;8:e641-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30110-8
Giordano G, Blanchini F, Bruno R, et al. Modelling the COVID-19 epidemic and implementation of population-wide interventions in Italy. Nat Med 2020;26:855-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0883-7
JHU (John Hopkins University). COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University; 2020. Available from: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html (last accessed: October 22, 2020)
Grossi U, Zanus G, Felice C. Coronavirus disease 2019 in Italy: The Veneto model. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2020;1-2. doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.225. [Epub ahead of print]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2020.225
Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-fatality rate and characteristics of patients dying in relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA 2020;323:1775-76. Erratum: JAMA 2020;323:1619.
Vicentini C, Bordino V, Gardois P, Zotti CM. Early assessment of the impact of mitigation measures on the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Public Health 2020;185:99-101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.028
IMF (International Monetary Fund). World Economic Outlook, April 2020: The Great Lockdown; April 14, 2020. Available from: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/04/14/weo-april-2020 Accessed: October 22, 2020.
IMF (International Monetary Fund). World Economic Outlook, October 2020: A Long and Difficult Ascent; October 7, 2020. Available from: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2020/09/30/world-economic-outlook-october-2020 Accessed: October 22, 2020.
McKee M, Stuckler D. If the world fails to protect the economy, COVID-19 will damage health not just now but also in the future. Nat Med 2020;26:640-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-0863-y
Hale T, Webster S, Petherick A, et al. Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. 2020. Available from: https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/COVIDtracker; https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/research-projects/coronavirus-government-response-tracker Accessed: October 22, 2020.
Remuzzi A, Remuzzi G. COVID-19 and Italy: what next? Lancet. 2020;395:1225-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30627-9
Rubino S, Kelvin N, Bermejo-Martin JF, Kelvin D. As COVID-19 cases, deaths and fatality rates surge in Italy, underlying causes require investigation. J Infect Dev Countries 2020;14:265-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.12734
Bonacini L, Gallo G, Patriarca F. Identifying policy challenges of COVID-19 in hardly reliable data and judging the success of lockdown measures. J Popul Econ 2021;34:275-301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-020-00799-x
Palmieri L, Vanacore N, Donfrancesco C, et al. Italian National Institute of Health COVID-19 Mortality Group. Clinical characteristics of hospitalized individuals dying with COVID-19 by age group in Italy. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2020;75:1796-800. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa146
The Guardian. First COVID-19 case happened in November, China government records show – report; March 13, 2020. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/first-COVID-19-case-happened-in-november-china-government-records-show-report Accessed: October 22, 2020.
Think Global Health. Updated: Timeline of the coronavirus; 2020. Available from: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/updated-timeline-coronavirus Accessed: October 22, 2020.
Forbes. Protests in Italy over strategy to reopen schools in September; June 28, 2020. Available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenedominioni/2020/06/28/protests-in-italy-over-strategy-to-reopen-schools-in-september/ Accessed: October 22, 2020.
Nardini S, Sanguinetti CM, De Benedetto F, et al. SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy: ethical and organizational considerations. Multidiscip Respir Med 2020;15:672. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/mrm.2020.672

How to Cite

Teixeira da Silva, J. A., & Tsigaris, P. (2020). The role of lockdowns and health policies for COVID-19 in Italy. Italian Journal of Medicine, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/itjm.2020.1366

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.