People in the zone wake up to closed cafes, restaurants and schools; farmers worry that planting should be starting around now. Authorities have put part of Italy’s most productive region into lockdown, shut the Venice carnival, one of its main tourist events, and postponed Milan’s showpiece design fair. Along with neighboring Veneto, the other main area hit by the outbreak, it generates about one-third of Italy’s economic output. The red zone and the region around it is a microcosm of the Italian economy. Local engineering unions say about 6,000 manufacturing workers, mainly those living in the red zone, have been sent home or put on short hours.

Source: Taipei Times March 03, 2020 15:56 UTC