Italy Quarantine Zone Map

Italy has become the first country in Europe to impose quarantine zones. Italy has seen the highest number of Covid-19 cases behind China and South Korea. In response the Italian government yesterday imposed a quarantine on the region of Lombardy and fourteen neighboring provinces in Piedmont, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Marche.

Italian provinces with restrictions as for 8 March

The control of movement in the quarantined zones will affect over sixteen million people. Movement in and out of the affected areas is restricted. All cultural events in the region are banned and people are required to keep at least one metre of distance from each other in public spaces - such as restaurants, churches and supermarkets.

The quarantine will have a large effect on the already fragile Italian economy. The lock-down affects Milan, the country's economic capital, and Venice one of Italy's most popular tourist destinations. Even before the new quarantine zones were imposed many of Italy's largest tourist attractions had already been experiencing large reductions in visitor numbers.


aerial imagery of Piazza del Duomo (left taken Jan 22nd, right taken March 4th)

The two images above show foot traffic in Milan's Piazza del Duomo before and after the huge outbreak of Covid-19 in Italy. The piazza gets more than 5 million visitors every year. However the aerial image on the right shows the normally busy piazza almost deserted on Wednesday of last week.