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Lombardy region’s governor pushes for Italian businesses to reopen

Lombardy, at the centre of Italy's coronavirus outbreak, has the strictest quarantine rules in the country. But now the head of the wealthy northern region is campaigning for the whole of Italy to reopen for business.

Published: 16 April 2020 13:37 CEST

Lombardy region's governor pushes for Italian businesses to reopen

The deserted Via Santo Spirito, part of Milan's luxury shopping district, on April 9, Photo: AFP

Attilo Fontana, the governor of Lombardy and a prominent member of the right-wing populist League party, sparked controversy on Thursday when he outlined his region's “road to freedom” in a Facbeook post.

The wealthy Lombardy region accounts for over a fifth of Italy's economic activity and Milan is home to the Italian headquarters of numerous global firms.

But this one region, at the epicentre of the outbreak in Italy, has also seen almost 60 percent of Italy's COVID-19 deaths, or over 11,000 of the total, which rose above 21,500 on Wednesday.

Italy's official toll – which is believed to be substantially underreported – was the world's highest until being overtaken by the United States last weekend.

Lombardy was the first region to cordon off “red zones” as the infection spread, and the first to implement a regional lockdown in early March.

It currently has stricter quarantine rules in place than any other Italian region – with fines of up to 5,000 euros for transgressions (the maximum fine in most of Italy is 3,000 euros).

After Lombardy and other parts of northern Italy went into lockdown, Italy rolled out strict national quarantine measures on March 10.

The restrictions seem to be working so far to contain the outbreak, but have had a severe impact on the country's already struggling economy.

The International Monetary Fund expects Italy's total output to shrink by 9.1 percent this year – the worst peacetime decline in nearly a century.

Millions of Italians are either furloughed or suddenly unemployed, and a growing number of people in Italy haven't got enough money for food and basic necessities.

In his Facebook post, Fontana insisted all businesses should reopen when the current nationwide lockdown expires on May 4, following basic social distancing rules.

”Many other European countries are already beginning to reopen. We need to start thinking about our own future immediately,” he said.

Some European nations, such as Denmark, Finland, andLithuania, are now cautiously eyeing ends to their own shutdowns.

Attilo Fontana, the regional governor of Lombardy. Photo: AFP

However most bigger European countries, including neighbouring France where the situation is more similar to that in Italy, are extending their closures for at least a few more weeks.

Italian government officials still follow the advice of doctors who think it is best to keep the nation locked down until new infections sharply drop off.

Italy's Deputy Industry Minister Stefano Buffagni called Fontana's message “an error”.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who continues to urge caution, has been widely applauded for his handing of what is widely viewed as Italy's worst crisis since World War II.

His government last week chose to extend the lockdown until at least May 3rd on the advice of its panel of scientific experts, despite pressure from those who want to restart economic activity this month.

It also allowed a short list of businesses to start reopening across the country from Tuesday April 14th.

However, the Lombardy regional administration, led by Fontana, immediately stated that it would not be allowing these businesses to reopen yet.

Lombardy would remain in full lockdown and economic hibernation until May 3rd with no gradual reopening before that date, the region's Welfare Minister Giulio Gallera announced on Saturday.

Fontana came under heavy criticism following his Facbeook post on Thursday, with many saying he seemed to have changed his stance on the issue.

Milan's mayor, Beppe Sala accused Fontana of shifting his position from recently being alarmed about the virus, to now ordering “everyone outside”.

“A little more restraint would not be too much to ask for,” Sala told La Repubblica newspaper.

“I am not against an economic recovery, because it affects the work of so many people,” the Milan mayor said. “But we must provide adequate guarantees first to those who go to work.”

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The strike comes after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama — who is close to Meloni — called a top RAI editor to complain about a television report into Italy’s controversial migration deal with his country.

The Usigrai trade union called the strike from May 6 to May 7 saying talks with management had failed to address their concerns.

It cited numerous issues, including staff shortages and contract issues, but in first place was “the suffocating control over journalistic work, with the attempt to reduce RAI to a megaphone for the government”.

It had already used that phrase to object to what critics say is the increasing influence over RAI by figures close to Prime Minister Meloni, who leads Italy’s most right-wing government since World War II.

However, another union of RAI journalists, Unirai, said they would not join what they called a “political” strike, defending the return to “pluralism” at the broadcaster.

Funded in part by a licence fee and with top managers long chosen by politicians, RAI’s independence has always been an issue of debate.

But the arrival in power of Meloni — leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, who formed a coalition with Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party and the late Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing Forza Italia — redoubled concerns.

Tensions erupted at the weekend amid accusations RAI censored a speech by a leading writer criticising Meloni ahead of Liberation Day on April 25, when Italians mark the defeat of Fascism and the Nazis at the end of World War II.

Both RAI’s management and Meloni have denied censorship, and the premier posted the text of the monologue on her social media.

In another twist, Albania’s premier confirmed Thursday he called senior RAI editor Paolo Corsini about an TV report on Sunday into Italy’s plans to build two migration processing centres on Albanian territory.

Rama told La Stampa newspaper the report was “biased” and contained “lies” – adding that he had not raised the issue with Meloni.

The Report programme claimed the costs of migrant centres, which are under construction, were already “out of control” and raised questions about criminals benefiting from the project.