Authority in Italy claimed the measure taken thus far is to protect the entire population, and especially the most fragile individuals against the ravaging CIOVID-19. As the decision forced Italians and non-Italians living in the country to sit at home, it has also caused chaos and confusion in some prisons in Italy leading to deaths and jail break. Under the initial lock down rules, schools, universities, theaters, cinemas, bars and nightclubs were closed in Italy’s north. Religious ceremonies, including funerals and weddings, and sporting events were suspended or postponed. Restaurants and bars were allowed to be open from 6am to 6pm, and malls and markets could open on weekdays if they could assure a meter (three feet) of distance between each client.
However, in the face of all these confusions, fear and stress Italians have designed effective way to adjust to the precarious situation and remain united in an attempt to fight a common enemy – COVID-19. Music for now is one way out. Viral videos coming out from the country shows how people in Italy have used music to stay united and remain happy irrespective of the crises and ugly situation brought about by the coronavirus which emerged from Wuhan, China and spreading like a wildfire to other parts of the world.
Regrettably, ninety-seven people have died of the novel coronavirus since Sunday in Italy, bringing its total number of deaths to 463. The country has 9,172 cases so far, the most of any European country.
In the viral videos Italians were seen signing happily from their verandas or balconies making use of whatever materials available to produce captivating sounds to support their voices projecting from different directions.
Italians in lockdown all over Italy are keeping each other company by singing, dancing and playing music from the balconies. A thread to celebrate the resilience of ordinary people. This is Salerno: pic.twitter.com/3aOchqdEpn
— Leonardo Carella (@leonardocarella) March 13, 2020
Anche #Agrigento #restaacasa.#Covid_19 #coronavirusitalia #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/7bTzqbaQEH
— Gabriele Restivo (@restivogab) March 13, 2020
More Naples pic.twitter.com/NBW7DO9bfs
— Leonardo Carella (@leonardocarella) March 13, 2020
The lockdown so far has already produced damaging ripple effects in the country. Inmates overran a number of prisons on Monday, escaping their facilities and kidnapping officers, after visitors were banned in an effort to curb the spread of the virus, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
Multiple inmates have died in the uproar, which swept 22 prisons. Some continue to occupy their facilities, even reaching the roof in some cases.
In the southern city of Foggia, inmates occupied the entire compound and 43 detainees escaped, before being captured by the prison’s police force and other law enforcement agencies, the statement said.
In Modena, in the north, inmates are “still occupying two sections of the prison.” There some inmates broke into the infirmary, where they got hold of various drugs, including methadone, the director of the Italian penitentiary system Francesco Basentini, said in a TV interview.
Six inmates died there, he added. Two of the dead died of an overdose, and another from the inhalation of toxic smoke. Basentini said the cause of the three remaining deaths was under investigation.
Meanwhile, in Rome’s Rebibbia prison, inmates reached an external area and badly damaged an entire pavilion. And four prison officers were kidnapped in Bologna, where 350 inmates managed to occupy two sections of the facility. Almost all of the jails are “seriously damaged,” according to the ministry statement.