Italy was the first European country to report a surge in cases of the coronavirus, with numbers quickly climbing into the thousands of subject infected by the virus. The authorities have responded with travel restrictions in the north of the country that are bound to hit the economy. Moreover, Italian Prime Minister has stated that public schools and university will remain close till middle of March.

In order to tackle the coronavirus emergency, Italian Government has also released a Decree Law that include all extraordinary measures to be undertaken in order to limit the contagion. The Italian Health Ministry has announced institutions’ first priority is health protection and limitation of contagion.

Generally speaking, the Decree Law states following provisions:

     – Prohibitions of access to the concerned area;

     – Prohibition of movement from the concerned area;

  – Suspension of public events and any other event associative events;

 – Suspension of public educational services or education travels;

     – Suspension of Museum public opening;

  – Suspension of public competition and public services with the exemption of basic and essential services;

   – People who had contact with infected are placed in quarantine;

 – Mandatory communication to the medical institutions about any access into the concerned area;

   – Suspension of specific enterprise operation;

   – Limited access to public transportation.

In the event of infringement of previous control measures, the offender is subject to the punishment of detention of up to three months with the fine of €200,00.

As we already mentioned in our previous article (https://www.vgsfamilylawyers.com/coronavirus-and-the-law-contracts-and-dispute-resolution/), coronavirus might affect business and services contracting due to the inability to undertake a contractual obligation or force majeure. Should you need any advice in relation to how to protect your contract or how to limit contract effects, please do not hesitate to contact us through the online form you find on this page. You will receive a first answer within the next 24 hours.