giuseppe conte and health minister roberto speranza are in the foreground, from behind on 22 february, the government announced a new decree imposing the quarantine of more than 50,000 people from 11 municipalities in northern italy. the quarantine zones are called the red zones and the areas in lombardy and veneto outside of them are called the yellow zones. penalties for violations range from a €206 fine to three months of imprisonment. the italian military and law enforcement agencies were instructed to secure and implement the lockdown. schools were closed in ten municipalities in lombardy, one in veneto and one in emilia romagna. all public events were cancelled and some commercial activities were halted or were allowed to resume only until 6 pm. all religious services were cancelled. regional train services to the most affected areas were suspended, with trains skipping stops at codogno, maleo and casalpusterlengo stations. people with symptoms were advised to call the 112 emergency number, instead of going directly to hospitals, in an effort to limit the disease's spread. the ministry of health provided a website and a direct line (1500) from which people could obtain the latest updates and information, as well as report suspected cases. educational trips to destinations in italy and abroad were suspended. universities in lombardy, veneto, trentino-alto adige/südtirol, piedmont and emilia-romagna suspended all activities from 23 february until 1 march. on 22 february 2020, prime minister giuseppe conte suspended all sporting events in the regions of lombardy and veneto, which included three serie a football matches in those regions, as well as one in piedmont, that were to be played the following day. the following week, six serie a matches were initially to be played behind closed doors, but all were later suspended, as were two coppa italia matches. authorities in veneto cancelled the last two days of the carnival of venice on 23 february. authorities in piedmont cancelled the last three days of the carnival of ivrea. la scala, milan cathedral and piccolo teatro in milan, as well as st mark's basilica in venice, were closed until further notice. a giorgio armani fashion show, which was scheduled on sunday, the last day of milan fashion week 2020, went ahead without any media or buyers present; it was instead streamed live online. in addition to the emergency phone numbers 112 and 118, new dedicated numbers were added for the different regions – lombardy 800894545, campania 800909699, veneto 800462340, piedmont 800333444 and emilia-romagna 800033033. the ocean viking, a rescue ship operated by msf and sos mediteranee that was carrying almost 300 migrants, was quarantined for 14 days in pozzallo, sicily. trenitalia and italo, the major providers for italy's high-speed trains, ordered the installation of hand-sanitiser dispensers on all trains as well as the distribution of masks, disposable gloves and disinfectants to all onboard staff members. empty shelves at the esselunga supermarket in bergamo, 26 february 2020 supermarkets in lombardy and emilia-romagna were emptied by customers as residents stockpiled food and supplies. streets, parks and train stations in multiple cities in lombardy were left deserted. on 24 february 500 additional police officers were assigned to patrol the quarantined areas in lodi and veneto. additional toll-free numbers were added for other regions — aosta valley 800122121, trentino alto adige 800751751, friuli venezia giulia 800500300, toscana 800556060, umbria 800636363, marche 800936677 and lazio 800118800. the governor of basilicata, vito bardi, instituted a mandatory 14-day quarantine for people arriving from areas in northern italy affected by the outbreak. the ministry of health announced that it had engaged 31 laboratories in italy to carry out the analysis of swabs from suspected covid-19 cases. minister roberto speranza appointed walter ricciardi, a member of world health organization's executive committee and former president of italian national institute of health, as a special adviser for relations between italy and international health organisations. filming of mission: impossible – dead reckoning part one starring tom cruise in venice was halted. major companies such as ibm, enel, luxottica, pricewaterhousecoopers and vodafone continued to allow remote work by employees. generali tower in milan and palazzo madama in rome installed thermal scanners to measure temperatures of visitors and employees. fao headquarters in rome conducted temperature checks on visitors entering the building. multiple regions in italy such as liguria, trentino alto adige, friuli venezia giulia, abruzzo and marche decided to close all schools and universities for two days to a week. court proceedings were postponed until further notice. starting from the 9th week of the year, icu cases related to covid-19 started to appear in the hospitals. their spike showed a different behaviour than the cases of seasonal flu. the ftse mib index fell by 6% and other stock market indices across europe were also affected. over 300,000 calls per day were logged on lombardy's toll-free line as well as the emergency number 112. some of the residents inside the red zone managed to leave the quarantined areas daily, bypassing the checkpoints by going through back roads. on 25 february, aviano air base closed all schools until 28 february. general tod d. walters issued a travel ban covering the areas of italy affected by the outbreak for us service members and their families. driver's licence exams were suspended in lombardy and veneto. the number of checkpoints in the red zones was increased from 15 to 35, and army personnel were sent to help staff the checkpoints. the italian basketball federation suspended all of its championship games, including lega basket serie a. istituto tecnico economico enrico tosi in varese, istituto comprensivo di pianoro in bologna and liceo attilio bertolucci in parma conducted lessons for students online while waiting for the schools to reopen. the university of palermo suspended all activities until 9 march. morgan stanley, barclays, mediobanca and unicredit encouraged remote work by milan staff. multiple fairs and exhibitions were rescheduled. salone del mobile was postponed to 16 to 21 june. bologna children's book fair was rescheduled to 4 to 7 may. cosmoprof worldwide bologna, a cosmetic fair, was rescheduled to 11 to 15 june. expocasa, a furniture fair in turin, was rescheduled initially to 28 march to 5 april but later to a future date to be announced later. roma motodays was postponed to 17 to 19 april. italy opened a probe into skyrocketing online prices for masks and sanitising gels. police issued warnings that criminals were using false identities and posing as health inspectors to gain access to people's homes to steal money, jewellery and other valuables. on 26 february, director of the italian national institute of health franco locatelli announced that swabbing would only be performed on symptomatic patients, as 95% of the swabs previously tested were negative. the italian minister of university and research, gaetano manfredi, announced that online lessons would be delivered to students in areas affected by the outbreak starting on 2 march. palermo and naples closed all schools until 29 february. the university of basilicata installed a thermal scanner and continued all teaching activities as per normal. the university of bari suspended all medical- and health-related internships for medical and healthcare students. politecnico di milano conducted thesis mentoring for more than one thousand students graduating the following week using skype. the italian winter sports federation decided to proceed with the women's world cup alpine skiing races at la thuile, aosta valley on 29 february. the mido milan eyewear show was rescheduled to 5 to 7 july. on 27 february, taranto, apulia closed all schools until 29 february. multiple schools were closed in roseto degli abruzzi. d'annunzio university suspended all activities until 29 february. cartoocomics fair in milan was rescheduled to 2 to 4 october. the winter rescue race in piedmont was cancelled. university of bologna planned to set up a remote teaching project in which exams and lessons would be delivered to students online, to be partially completed on 2 march. messina closed all schools from 29 february to 3 march. on 28 february, during an interview with rai news24, professor massimo galli from the luigi sacco hospital in milan suggested that the majority of newly recorded cases were pre-existing cases that were finally detected during the extensive tests performed on people (and their relatives) who had come in contact with confirmed patients. the rapid increase of positive cases was the result of the blanket testing approach that was deployed following the first confirmed case in codogno. the ministry of health announced new guidelines for reporting cases. it would no longer report asymptomatic cases (positive swabs taken from patients who were not showing symptoms), which had counted as 40 to 50% of all reported cases at the time. these people would undergo isolation at home and would be followed up with new tests until they were negative. universities in lombardy extended their closure until 7 march. nationwide measures on 1 march, the council of ministers approved a decree to organise the containment of the outbreak. in the decree, the italian national territory was divided into three areas: the number of new cases and deaths per day in italy from covid-19 showing the effects of lockdown and lifting a red zone (composed of the municipalities of bertonico, casalpusterlengo, castelgerundo, castiglione d'adda, codogno, fombio, maleo, san fiorano, somaglia and terranova dei passerini in lombardy, and the municipality of vo' in veneto), where the whole population is in quarantine. a yellow zone (composed of the regions of lombardy, veneto and emilia-romagna), where social and sports events are suspended and schools, theatres, clubs, and cinemas are closed. the rest of the national territory, where safety and prevention measures are advertised in public places and special sanitisations are performed on means of public transport. on 4 march, the italian government imposed the shutdown of all schools and universities nationwide for two weeks as the country reached 100 deaths from the outbreak. the same day, the government ruled that all sporting events in italy would be played behind closed doors until 3 april. on 5 march, when the newly appointed emilia-romagna regional minister of health, raffale donini, tested positive for covid-19, governor stefano bonaccini appointed sergio venturi as commissioner for the emergency. venturi was the regional minister of health until february 2020. montage of notices on shops in bologna declaring their temporary closure, or requiring people to stay at least one metre apart in the night between 7 and 8 march, the government approved a decree to lock down lombardy and 14 other provinces in veneto, emilia-romagna, piedmont and marche, involving more than 16 million people. the decree "absolutely avoided any movement into and out of the areas" and, like the previous one, it provided sanctions of up to three months in prison for those who violated the lockdown. it was possible to move into and out of the areas only for emergencies or "proven working needs", which must be authorised by the prefect. the decree also established the closure of all gyms, swimming pools, spas and wellness centres. shopping centres had to be closed on weekends, while other commercial activities could remain open if a distance of one metre between customers could be guaranteed. the decree imposed the closure of museums, cultural centres and ski resorts in the lockdown areas and the closure of cinemas, theatres, pubs, dance schools, game rooms, betting rooms and bingo halls, discos and similar places in the entire country. civil and religious ceremonies, including funeral ceremonies, were suspended. all organised events were also suspended, as well as events in public or private places, including those of a cultural, recreational, sporting and religious nature, even if held in closed places. this measure was described as the largest lockdown in the history of europe, as well as the most aggressive response taken in any region beyond china, and paralysed the wealthiest parts of the country as italy attempted to constrain the rapid spread of the disease. riots broke out in many penitentiaries throughout italy after restrictions on conjugal visits were imposed by the government in the 8 march decree. nine prisoners died in modena and three in rieti, while 76 detainees escaped from foggia's penitentiary. two prison agents were assaulted and kidnapped in pavia. on 9 march in bologna, detainees took control of the dozza penitentiary, forcing personnel to exit the building. on 11 march, two prisoners were found dead in