ROME, ITALY - JULY 29: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte delivers his speech during the debate ... [+] at the Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies) about further initiatives related to the Covid-19 emergency, on July 29, 2020 in Rome, Italy. Today Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte reported at the Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies) to ask to vote on the extension of the state of emergency related to the Covid-19 emergency. (Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

In line with other European countries, the trend of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy has started increasing again. Alongside Spain, France and Germany, the country has started recording higher levels of contagion, with 379 new cases today, mostly concentrated in the regions of Veneto and Lombardy. In 8 regions (out of 21) the contagion rate is above 1 point, the standard risk measurement used to establish the necessary attention level.

According to experts, the number of Covid-19 cases in our country is slightly rising, although it remains contained. This is expected as the epidemic is running high in different countries of the world and we are surrounded by countries where the number of cases is increasing, said Gianni Rezza, general director of the Prevention agency in the Italian ministry of Health. Luckily, our system is reacting well, and all hotbeds are instantly identified and contained. This still imposes the need to maintain prudent behavior, meaning maintaining physical distancing, using face masks in public places, especially indoors, and washing ones hands frequently, he added.

With the summer season and the lifting of restrictions all around Europe, Italy is trying to restart its economy, encouraging the shift back to normality. But the government is still cautious. Earlier this week prime minister Giuseppe Conte intervened in parliament to present a resolution to extend the state of emergency until October 15. This extension, if the debate leaves aside all ideological positions, is an inevitable choice, even obligated to some extent, and exclusively based on technical evaluations, he said.

Not everyone in the parliament shared this reasoning. I am not going to mince words, I think that what is happening is extremely serious. This is a block in a liberticidal drift that the government has put in place with the excuse of the coronavirus. There is no other reason, said Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right party Fratelli dItalia.

Along the same lines is the position of Lega leader Matteo Salvini, who in parliament refused to wear a mask and on multiple public occasions was found not adopting any protection measures, including distancing from others. A greeting by the elbow means the end of the human species, and I refuse to do it. Whenever someone comes close to me, if they give me their hand, I break the law and shake it, he said.

Italys president Sergio Mattarella hence called on Italians sense of responsibility. We cannot and we must not forget what happened, those weeks when hundreds of our fellow citizens died on a daily basis, when doctors and nurses in hospitals with self-sacrifice made extreme efforts, being at serious personal risk, to take care of those who were sick, when in the cemeteries there wasnt enough space for all the coffins. It was only four months ago. On March 31, 800 of our fellow citizens died in a single day. [] Sometimes, the theme of the violation of the rules of sanitary prudence is evoked as an expression of freedom. But freedom should not be confused with the right to make others sick. To learn how to live together with the virus until there is a vaccine, does not mean behaving as if the virus had disappeared. Only by remembering what happened, and without being divided based on prejudice, only this way, through a common search of perspective, we can pose solid foundations for the necessary recovery, and get to a new normal.

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Coronavirus Cases On The Rise In Italy. Freedom Does Not Mean Infecting Others - Forbes