Richard Baldwin
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic required extreme measures limiting freedom of movement, driving most countries to impose a lockdown of non-essential economic activities. Western industrialised countries had not witnessed an event of such magnitude since the Spanish Influenza, so the policy measures were novel and unprecedented.
Italy was the first country to introduce these measures. The first official case of COVID-19 was found on 21 February 2020. Initially, restrictions were confined to 11 municipalities in Lombardy and Veneto, which were declared ‘red zones’,
1 soon after which the government issued a series of emergency decrees (DPCM). On 8 March, the red zone status was extended to 15 additional provinces, and within three days the measures of social distancing were applied to the whole country (the ‘stay at home’ campaign). Sunday 22 March marked the introduction of the nationwide lockdown, consisting of the shutting down of plants producing any goods and services except those on a list of essential goods or those that were part of related value chains. Firms were still allowed to continue activities that could be performed through remote working.