![]() ![]() ![]() Those who do have legitimate employment have been given a path to ask for the suspension of some bills, but black economy workers – of whom there are an estimated 3.7 million, according to ISTAT – have no such outlet for relief. With a huge part of the southern population working in the so-called “black economy” off the books, a whole segment of people lost jobs for which they cannot legally claim unemployment benefits. Bodies left in streets in overwhelmed city.Coronavirus is catastrophic for cleaners.Even with the outbreak in some southern communities affecting “only” a few thousand, the facilities are stretched and care for non-Covid patients has been severely compromised. The so-called “mezzogiorno” is where organized crime syndicate hubs are based and where unemployment hovers around 20% for adults and up to 50% for those under 24 during the best of times, according to figures from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). Had the initial infection cluster started in the poorer southern regions, which do not have the same strong infrastructure, no one disputes that the crisis would have been even worse.īut the southern regions are struggling, too. Some of the best health structures in all of Europe are in northern Italy, but they were pushed to near collapse with the sheer number of Covid-19 patients in need of urgent care. More than 10,000 health care workers in the northern provinces have been infected with the virus, according to the Italian Doctor’s Federation, as a lack of proper protective gear made contagion inside healthcare facilities a contributor to the rampant spread. Italy’s wealthy northern provinces have taken the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak with more than 75% of overall cases and deaths north of Tuscany, in the center of the country, per the Italian Civil Protection agency. The lockdown, which was originally scheduled to end Friday, April 3, has now been extended to beyond Easter, and Italians from north to south are nearing a breaking point just as the draconian measures have begun to show signs of stopping the spread of Covid-19. Instead, flags were lowered to half-staff this week for the nearly 15,000 coronavirus victims including doctors, nurses and health care professionals who have perished since February 23. The soft approach is a proven failure, let us protect our country and not have to go into lockdown after thousands get sick.Four weeks into a nationwide lockdown, very few Italians are still singing from their balconies or banging pots and pans in solidarity. "MAM appeals to the government to stop with immediate effect all flights from northern Italy and to order mandatory quarantine for flights from other cities from Italy. The MAM warned that if such precautionary decisions are not made, the association was ready to take any measures necessary to protect its members. Medical advice of consultants in the department of medicine at Mater Dei recommends a ban, with trade unions and social partners insisting that flights be stopped. ![]() They have created a grave risk for all the half a million inhabitants of the Maltese islands," the doctors said.ĭaily flights to Malta from lockdown areas in Italy continue unabated. While this family was lucky to get a mild illness, not everybody will be so lucky. "The 3 cases in Malta are the result of a family who travelled to northern Italy despite the advice not to do so. "It is clear that the Italian authorities just like China have failed to stop the epidemic with their soft approach and have now changed to lockdown approach. The doctors' association said that Malta needed to adopt a tougher approach to stop the epidemic from spreading. On Sunday, MaltaToday revealed that Abela was in disagreement with his health minister, Chris Fearne, with the latter suggesting that flights from Italy be halted. He also appealed for associations to be fair in their comments and said that the government would not play with the nation's wellbeing. This was ordered because the situation in Italy is very grave, with the epidemic spreading like wildfire to thousands, with hundreds of deaths and intensive care admissions," the association said in a statement on Sunday.Īt a political activity in Rabat on Sunday, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that it was not yet time for such extreme decisions. "The Italian government has declared the region of Lombardia and 14 provinces in northern Italy as quarantine zone, where people are forbidden to travel unless they receive special permission. The Medical Association of Malta has reiterated its call for flights from northern Italy to be temporarily halted. ![]()
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