Coronavirus, the great government blockade anticipated by Piedmont: “It is an emergency never seen”

This is what Cirio asked the government in the afternoon. And this is what some mayors and political forces, for example, Leu with his group leader in the Marco Grimaldi Region, have been asking for days, aware that the greatest risks are lurking inside companies, among those who are forced to work side by side and move ( maybe on public transport) to get to the workplace.

In Piedmont, the tightening of the squeeze – yet another – will still be harder: all public offices and professional offices will be closed until April 3, with the sole exception of those that provide indispensable services. A measure that some bodies, see the City of Turin, have already adopted for a few days but which now becomes mandatory for everyone. Movements to second homes are also prohibited, a move decided to meet the demands of the mountain mayors and Uncem, concerned about the excessive influx into the valleys. Initially it was thought to ban travel only on weekends, but the choice was more drastic.

Cirio would also have liked to close all the local markets, worried about the images that had come to him on the phone these days and which showed gatherings between the stalls throughout Piedmont, including Turin. On Friday he showed the images of Porta Palazzo, yesterday those of Corso Sevastopoli. The mayors, however, stopped him, showing him other images of the same tenor but more worrying: those of the endless rows outside the supermarkets. Tails that would inevitably lengthen, not to mention the “rubbish” between the shelves.

So we arrived at the mediation point already provided for in the ordinance that the president was ready to adopt on Friday if the government decree had not arrived: it will be up to the mayors to authorize the markets as long as the safety conditions are guaranteed, even using barriers and traffic police . And in the shops – which is already the rule, in fact – only one person can enter the family, except in the case of those elderly people who must be accompanied. The vending machines that sell drinks and food will be closed and the slot machines in the tobacconists turned off. Tobacconists remain open as well as newsagents, pharmacies and parapharmacies.

In this continuous race to impose new bans on the basis of the growing number of infections and inpatients – who however contracted the virus at least a week ago, or ten days ago – the leaders of yesterday afternoon, first with the group leaders in the Region and then with the mayors, provincial presidents and representatives of Anci, Upi, Uncem and Legautonomie, led to a final drastic measure: tight even on the gatherings between more than two people. “We close everything we can,” says Cirio. «We know that we are asking every citizen for a great effort, but it is the right choice. Freedom is a good, but life is more. “ –