(By John Blackeye) Prime Minister yesterday evening, Giuseppe Conte after communicating the contents of the latest decree, he replied to a journalist on the "fase 2", When after April 13 some activities could reopen:"And when this happens, a strict security protocol must still be respected. The government thinks about phase 2, though - underlines the premier - we are not in a position to anticipate a date. We are constantly dealing with the esperti and at this moment we reserve the right to follow the evolution of the curve with them. To anticipate now would be to say something without foundation".
Reopening will not mean going back to what was done before, because the rules to be respected will be even more rigid, on the street, on transport and at work. "We will definitely have to keep observing the rule of distances and make sacrifices for a while longer - anticipates Conte - After this phase, safety protocols at all levels will be more evident, both for walking on the street or taking the means of transport, and for going to workplaces. We have already adopted security protocols with very strict companies".
The coronavirus emergency appears to be running on two parallel tracks. One is that of contagion and the other is that of economics. The industrialists are pulling Premier Conte down the jacket who, due to pressure from the sector, is forced to dictate restrictions on freedom for health purposes, only for a few weeks, in the hope that the nation will be given green light as soon as possible, saying to all that the world has returned to almost the same as before.
But both problems, both that of contagion and that of the economy, have man and his safeguard with his well-being as the only common factor and, therefore, cannot travel on parallel tracks but must be an integral part of a single path of national rehabilitation in which one cannot exclude the other.
Industrialists, in the interest of companies and the real economy that needs to be fueled by production, push to close immediately with this blessed problem and move on to what they call the 2 phase in which the world should return to normal.
So while we continue to count the deceased and the newly infected, we continue to talk about2 phase as if this phantom second life, could begin shortly.
It is clear that the economy is the soul of a country but it is equally clear that the needs represented by the Italian industrial sector do not take into consideration the contingent situation and, therefore, are limited to themselves and do not represent what in these cases should prevail over everything: the public interest.
Re-opening unconditionally to industrial productivity means putting the transport system in motion and with it also the free movement of the masses of workers and, consequently, the interpersonal relationships and contacts between people, even if with adequate protection measures and respect for the social distance.
How is it possible to think of a reopening of the "Italy system" after April 13 if, after three months from the beginning of the spread of the virus in Italy, the "peak" has not yet been reached (also on this there is still a discrepancy between virologists) and the descending phase of the infection is not yet so marked as to allow us to say that we are out of it?
On April 13, that is, in a week, we will not be able to reopen the nation to start from where we left off. In a week we will be dealing with thousands of new infected people a day. And if still yesterday there were almost three thousand new contagions in a police regime and restrictions on freedom that Italy did not experience, probably not even at the time of the War, what could happen if suddenly we eliminated the only obstacles that we managed to put between us and the virus?
Industrial productivity is fundamental but we must consider that the problem affects the whole planet, all international economies. We must understand that what is happening is something extraordinary, something never seen before. And in the face of extraordinary events, the reactions must be extraordinary. Return to the production and reopening of the factories as if nothing had happened, I don't think it has this exceptional feature but it would be such a serious mistake that I don't think anyone wants to commit in this particular situation.
We must first secure the country, we must save human lives, and if the economy and finance prefer profits for men, well, if they make a reason for it.
The sooner we win and the sooner we get out. But going out of the house when there is still a strong storm outside has only one result: you are definitely overwhelmed ... and it is not what we are all waiting to see.