Keeping Italians at home is headache for authorities

ROME: Confined to their homes for over a week, some Italians are getting restless. More than 53,000 people have been fined for flouting the rules, as the government fires on all cylinders, hoping to convince them to stay at home.

According to the decree announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 9, outings are only allowed for professional, health or food shopping reasons. Offenders can be imprisoned for up to three months or fined up to 206 euros ($220). Here is a non-exhaustive list of the means used by Italian authorities to ensure compliance with its measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Roadblocks and street corner checks: the police are everywhere and carry out tens of thousands of checks every day to make sure that all trips outside are justified. Every person leaving his or her home must be in possession of a sworn statement explaining the reason, which must be legitimate.

The number of controls increases every day: 173,000 on Monday, 187,000 on Tuesday, 200,000 on Wednesday and over that number on Thursday. These police controls have resulted in 8,100, 8,300, 8,500 and 9,500 write-ups, respectively.

In the media and on social networks, the government is hammering home a very simple slogan: "Io resto a casa" ("I´m staying at home"). The slogan is written everywhere: in bright letters on the façade of the Pirellone, the famous skyscraper in Milan, on television ads, and also as a hashtag on the accounts of politicians and celebrities from the world of music, cinema and sport.

Many celebrities have filmed -- from home -- short spots aired on television encouraging people to stay inside. In one, popular comedian Fiorello reclines on a red sofa, asking "Why don´t we stay at home?"