of 16 march to 20 february, although such level was not considered sufficient. about 700,000 citizens were stopped and checked between 11 and 17 march alone, of which 43,000 were decided to have violated the quarantine, including at least two priests who were officiating funeral services (which were banned by the decree). the comparison of the province of lodi (where a rigid lockdown was imposed in certain areas starting on 24 february) and the province of bergamo (where it started later on 9 march) on 17 march showed that the first one recovered faster and the exponential increase of cases stopped. on 3 april, google published a series of mobility reports, using aggregated data to show the trend of how busy some categories of places were, and comparing them to a baseline evaluated in the months of january and february. the data for italy showed a 94% drop for retail and recreation places, an 85% drop for grocery shops and pharmacies, a 90% drop for parks and beaches, an 87% drop for public transit hubs, a 63% drop for workplaces, and a 24% rise for residential places. the differences in lockdown efficacy have also been attributed to different characteristics of the population of different italian regions, such as disparities in social capital. research on the lockdown highlighted a positive role in directing individual behavior toward greater respect of the policy. reactions domestic both attilio fontana, the president of lombardy, and luca zaia, the president of veneto, criticised the quarantine measures, with fontana requesting better clarification regarding the quarantine from the central government, while zaia opposed it altogether. president of emilia-romagna stefano bonaccini called the decree "confusing" and requested the central government take more time to develop a "coherent" solution. maurizio rasero, mayor of the quarantined municipality of asti, posted a video on his facebook page complaining about the sudden announcement of the quarantine, of which he had not been informed beforehand. the decree was also criticised by local business leaders, who claimed that the decree did not have sufficient clarifications on the details of the quarantine. matteo salvini, italy's opposition leader, also demanded further clarity regarding the lockdown. on the other hand, novara's mayor alessandro canelli mentioned that he was surprised by the initial information he received that his province would not be part of the quarantine zone, and had requested for novara's inclusion due to its significant transport links with milan. president of marche luca ceriscioli agreed to the measures, although he mentioned a need for more participation from the impacted territories. responding to the thousands of people who evacuated from lombardy just before the 8 march quarantine was put in place, police officers and medics met passengers from lombardy in salerno, campania, and the passengers were required to self-quarantine. michele emiliano, president of apulia, required all arrivals from northern italy to self-quarantine. similarly, jole santelli, president of calabria, called for calabrians living in northern italy not to return home during the outbreak, and for the government to "block an exodus to calabria". conte, alongside other leaders, requested italians to avoid engaging in "furbizia"—i.e. craftiness to circumvent rules and bureaucracy—during the lockdown. conte also told la repubblica that italy was facing its "darkest hour". residents an italian flag with the slogan "andrà tutto bene" ("everything will be alright") in the initial quarantine, a special radio station (radio zona rossa, or "radio red zone") was set up for residents of the codogno quarantine area, broadcasting updates on the quarantine situation, interviews with authorities, and government information. catholic sermons were also broadcast through the radio. following the quarantine's expansion, the hashtag #iorestoacasa ("i stay at home") was shared by thousands of social media users. in compliance with regulations on keeping one metre of distance between each other in public locations, bars and restaurants placed duct tape on floors for their customers to follow. rushes to supermarkets in cities such as rome and palermo were reported as residents engaged in panic buying following the nationwide quarantine announcement. vatican after the italian national lockdown was announced, the vatican closed the vatican museums and suspended masses and public liturgies. while the st. peter's basilica remained open, its catacombs were closed and visitors were required to follow the italian regulations on the one-metre separation. catholic mass in rome and the vatican were also suspended until 3 april, and pope francis opted to instead live stream daily mass. dismayed by the vicar general's complete closure of all churches in the diocese of rome, pope francis partially reversed the closures, but tourists are still barred from visiting the churches. international the director-general of the world health organization, tedros adhanom, praised italy's decision to implement the lockdown, saying the italian people and government were "making genuine sacrifices" with these "bold, courageous steps". sun shuopeng, vice president of the chinese red cross, visited milan and heavily criticised the enforcement of the lockdown, saying "the lockdown measures are very lax". according to a survey by bloomberg, italy and spain rank among the countries that have more strictly complied with lockdown measures.