ROME – The President of the Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, has asked the Italian Prime Minister Guieseppe Conte for a decree to use the army to enforce the lockdown in Italy. According to official sources, the decree, which could also prohibit outdoor sports and reduce the opening hours of grocery stores, is expected to arrive on Sunday on the basis of the reassessment of the contagion curve, reports Il Messaggero. 

  There are already 7300 military personnel who monitor the situation on the ground in Italy, but the decree would dramatically increase that number to control areas on request from local administrators, with the mayor of Verona and Civitzvecchia having called for military support as well.

  The army is already in operation in Milan to control the streets, with 114 military units operating to enforce the Italian lockdown and contain the spread of coronavirus, according to Italian Minister of the Interior. Further units are already being sent to Campania and Salerno, report La Repubblica.

  Some regions in Italy have already taken action. On top of the government’s lockdown decree from March 8, the governor of Sicily, Nello Musumeci, launched a series of additional measures on Thursday evening, with soliders being used to conduct urban surveillance patrols, according to La Repubblica.

  Sicilians are currently only allowed to go out once a day to purchase non-medical essentials, and with all other outdoor movement prohibited, report Il Fatto Quotidiano.

  As the Italian government considers whether to implement such measures across Italy and move towards martial law, the Minister for Education, Lucia Azzolina, said in an interview with SkyTg24 that the current re-opening date of April 3 for schools will have to be extended. The school year will remain valid, and pupils will receive online education, but it is not yet possible for the government to give a date for the reopening of the school buildings, and so the school year might be extended into the summer months.

  The technical-scientific committee have clarified that the Italian government are adopting the same approach as the Chinese government did for education, which closed schools for a minimum of 60 days. According to Il Messaggero, if the coronavirus peaks in mid-April, then the reopening of schools might be possible at some point in May.

  There is also speculation that the end of school exams will be made easier for students. “State exams will be serious, but they will undoubtedly have to take into consideration the very difficult moment that our students are going through,” said Ms. Azzolina, as quoted in La Stampa.

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