Italy’s massive quarantine provokes panic as markets tank 11%

Italy’s extended quarantine measures restricting the movement of people in the northern regions have provoked panic among residents and accentuated the country’s north-south divide. On Sunday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree imposing restrictions to the movement of people in the northern region of Lombardy — the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy — and 14 other provinces across the north, until April 3. The measures affect more that 16 million people, banning them from moving in and out of those areas.

The publication of a draft decree Saturday afternoon by a newspaper revealing the forthcoming, wider quarantine measures prompted panic among residents trying to get out before the restrictions came into force after midnight.

Italian stocks on the blue-chip FTSE MIB initially failed to open Monday along with other European markets. When the index did open, stocks were trading down around 2,290 points, or around 11% lower.

Italy now has 7,375 confirmed cases of the virus and 366 deaths. The outbreak has been concentrated in Italy’s wealthiest northern regions of Lombardy (where there are 3,372 confirmed cases), Emilia-Romagna (with 1,097 cases) and Veneto and has highlighted Italy’s north-south economic and cultural divide.

Italy’s massive quarantine provokes panic as markets tank 11%, CNBC, Mar 9