Impact of a Nationwide Lockdown on SARS-CoV-2 Transmissibility, Italy
Giorgio Guzzetta, Flavia Riccardo, Valentina Marziano, Piero Poletti, Filippo Trentini, Antonino Bella, Xanthi Andrianou, Martina Del Manso, Massimo Fabiani, Stefania Bellino, Stefano Boros, Alberto Mateo‐Urdiales, Maria Fenicia Vescio, Andrea Piccioli, COVID-19 Working Group,2, Silvio Brusaferro, Giovanni Rezza, Patrizio Pezzotti, Marco Ajelli, Stefano Merler
Abstract
O n February 21, 2020, the earliest known case of locally transmitted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection was reported in Italy (1; D. Cereda et al., unpub. data, https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.09320). Since then, several interventions have been deployed to control disease spread in regions with sustained transmission, including quarantine of most-affected municipalities, ban of mass gatherings, and local school closures. School closure at the national level was mandated on March 5, and a national lockdown (stay-home mandate and closure of all nonessential productive activities) was issued on March 11 (2,3), then eased after May 4, 2020 (Appendix, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/ EID/article/27/1/20-2114-App1.pdf). The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of these interventions on SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility in Italy.