Italy Fears Mass Looting And Riots As Nationwide Lockdown Extended To April 18

Fmtnews, Covid 19

Bloomberg: Italy Risks Losing Grip in South With Fears of Looting and Riots

As Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte fights to hold Italian society together through a crippling nationwide lockdown, the depressed south is turning into a powder keg.

Police have been deployed on the streets of Sicily’s capital, Palermo, amid reports gangs are using social media to plot attacks on stores. A bankrupt ferry company halted service to the island, including vital supplies of food and medicines. As the state creaks under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, officials worry the mafia may be preparing to step in.

Preventing unrest in the so-called Mezzogiorno, the underdeveloped southern region that’s long lagged behind the wealthy north, has become the government’s top priority, according to Italian officials who asked not to be named discussing the administration’s strategy.

With the European Union’s most dangerously indebted state already fighting the Germans over the terms of the financial aid it needs, the fallout may reach far beyond Rome if Conte fails.

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Update: ‘We have to eat’: Sicily police crackdown on looting amid coronavirus (AFP)

WNU Editor: Most families have enough to sustain themselves for about a month. After a month, especially for small families of 4 or more, the situation becomes dire. Italy is in that situation right now, and it looks like this lockdown is going to go on into the summer .... Italy's 'very long' lockdown to only end gradually (France 24).

Update #2: The pandemic has cost Italy 10,779 lives, and there are currently 97,689 cases .... Italy’s death toll surpasses 10,000 as prime minister warns of rising ‘nationalist instincts’ (CNBC)

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