COVID-19: the critical balance between appropriate governmental restrictions and expected economic, psychological and social consequences in Italy. Are we going in the right direction?

COVID-19: the critical balance between appropriate governmental restrictions and expected economic, psychological and social consequences in Italy. Are we going in the right direction?

Authors

  • Paolo Diego L'Angiocola 1San Giovanni di Dio Regional Hospital, Department of Cardiology, ASUGI Gorizia, Italy
  • Manuel Monti Assisi Hospital, Department of Accidents and Emergency, ASL Umbria 1, Assisi, Italy

Keywords:

COVID-19; quarantine; mortality rate; public health.

Abstract

Since the declaration of COVID-19 pandemic infection by the World Health Organization, many governmental restrictions have been differently applied in the involved countries in order to contain the spread of the infection; Italy applied severe restrictive, public measures actually confining the entire population to an almost complete lockdown for several weeks; the restrictive quarantine can be considered controversial when excessively prolonged over time, due to many possible economic, psychologic and social consequences with a remarkable impact on the population. In this article we analyze possible collateral damages related to the prolonged quarantine.

References

DPCM 22 marzo 2020. Ulteriori disposizioni attuative del decreto-legge 23 febbraio 2020, n. 6, recante misure urgenti in materia di contenimento e gestione dell'emergenza epidemiologica da COVID-19, applicabili sull'intero territorio nazionale. Gazzetta Ufficiale Repubblica Italiana [Official Gazette of the Italian Republic] n. 76 del 22 marzo 2020. Available on: http://www.governo.it/it/articolo/coronavirus-firmato-il-dpcm-22-marzo-2020/14363 [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Baud D, Qi X, Nielsen-Saines K, Musso D, Pomar L, Favre G. Real estimates of mortality following COVID-19 infection. Lancet Infect Dis 2020 Mar 12. pii: S1473-3099(20)30195-X. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30195-X.

Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-Fatality Rate and Characteristics of Patients Dying in Relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA 2020 Mar 23. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.4683.

Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS). Sorveglianza integrata COVID-19 in Italia. March 16, 2020. Available on: https://www.epicentro.iss.it/coronavirus/bollettino/Infografica_26marzo%20ITA.pdf [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM). Global Covid-19 Case Fatality Rates. March 17, 2020. Updated April 3, 2020. Available on: https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates/ [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Signorelli C, Scognamiglio T, Odone A. COVID-19 in Italy: impact of containment measures and prevalence estimates of infection in the general population. Acta Biomed. 2020 Apr 10;91(3-S):175-179. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i3-S.9511.

Odone A, Delmonte D, Scognamiglio T, Signorelli C COVID-19 deaths in Lombardy, Italy: what data tell and what do not. The Lancet Public Health, accepted for publication 17.04.2020

https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/241576 [Last accessed 2020, Apr 18]

Coronavirus, Boccia (Confindustria): “Con stop ad aziende perderemo 100 miliardi al mese”. March 23, 2020. Available on: https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2020/03/23/coronavirus-confindustria-boccia.html [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Emergenza Covid-19, impatto sulle percezioni dei consumatori tra psicosi ed engagement. March 16, 2020. Available on: https://www.aboutpharma.com/blog/2020/03/16/emergenza-covid-19-impatto-sulle-percezioni-dei-consumatori-tra-psicosi-ed-engagement/ [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Coronavirus, rivolta nelle carceri: sotto accusa il responsabile dei penitenziari. Corriere della Sera March 11, 2020. Available on: https://www.corriere.it/cronache/20_marzo_11/coronavirus-rivolta-carceri-sotto-accusa-responsabile-penitenziari-d7543b36-63c7-11ea-9cf4-1c175ff3bb7c.shtml[Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Kar SK, Arafat SMY, Sharma P, Dixit A, Marthoenis M, Kabir R. COVID-19 pandemic and addiction: Current problems and future concerns. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020 Apr 10;51:102064. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102064.

Zhang J, Lu H, Zeng H, Zhang S, Du Q, Jiang T, Du B. The differential psychological distress of populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brain Behav Immun. 2020 Apr 15. pii: S0889-1591(20)30535-3. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.031.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-israeli-prof-claims-simple-stats-show-virus-plays-itself-out-after-70-days/ [last accessed: 2020 April 15]

Carret CK. 10 Questions and 4 experts on Corona. EMBO Mol Med. 2020 Apr 4. doi: 10.15252/emmm.202012317.

Boccia S, Ricciardi W, Ioannidis JP. What Other Countries Can Learn From Italy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Apr 7. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1447

Signorelli C. La chiusura totale contro il virus ha anche effetti negativi. "La Stampa" newspaper 29/03/2020, page 17.

Evidence Based Medicine Italian Research Group (GIMBE). Il definanziamento 2010-2019 del Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. Report Osservatorio GIMBE n. 7/2019. Available on: https://www.gimbe.org/osservatorio/Report_Osservatorio_GIMBE_2019.07_Definanziamento_SSN [Last accessed: 2020, Apr 6].

Downloads

Published

11-05-2020

Issue

Section

ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS/COMMENTARIES - SPECIAL COVID19

How to Cite

1.
L'Angiocola PD, Monti M. COVID-19: the critical balance between appropriate governmental restrictions and expected economic, psychological and social consequences in Italy. Are we going in the right direction?. Acta Biomed. 2020;91(2):35-38. doi:10.23750/abm.v91i2.9575