Thread by @loyndsview

"Restrictions imposed to control the virus — & public panic — have transformed #Italy’s commercial & financial capital in a way some Milanese fear will result in a deep & lasting economic blow."

washingtonpost.com/world/europe/i… #Milan #ItalyCoronavirus

1/ "Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte this week said the economic blow to Italy could be 'very strong.'”

2/ “'If the virus spreads, and it will spread, I think any local or national politician would have to take very drastic action, and that will virtually halt the economy,' said Roberto Perotti, an economist at #Milan’s Bocconi University, who was #workingfromhome this week."

3/ "For #Italy, the #coronavirus could hardly have broken out in a more damaging economic area. The country’s two largest northern regions, #Lombardy & #Veneto, account for 30% of the #employment & 40% of the #exports."

4/ "#Milan is the economic hub, and to the east, #Venice is a #tourism mega-draw for a country that depends on visitors for 13% of its gross domestic product."

5/ "While the country’s north is prosperous, it powers an otherwise stagnant country — one with no growth in 20 years, and now all but assured of its fourth #recession since 2008."

6/ “'The #panic is spreading in #Italy at a much higher level than the reality of the risk,' said Maria Rita Gismondo, a #virologist at Luigi Sacco University Hospital in Milan. She pointed out that those that have died have been elderly and had chronic health conditions."

7/ "Between 50 & 80% of the hotel reservations that were on the books on Friday had been canceled by Wednesday, said Maurizio Naro, the president of Milan’s hotel association. 'It’s really bad & it’s worsening every day,' he said, blaming '#sensationalism' in the #media...."