Dear all,

as you probably already know, yesterday evening the government announced drastic new decisions taken to contain the epidemic of the COVID-19 virus.

The Prime Minister’s Decree of 9 March 2020 which contains the new rules has been published in the Official Gazette no. 62 of 9.3.2020 and has already entered into force.

The new Decree will remain in force until April 3.

The main rule consists in the extension to all of Italy of the extremely restrictive rules already laid down with the previous Decree of 8 March 2020 for the Lombardy region and other provinces of Northern and Central Italy.

Consequently:

a) it is necessary to avoid entering and leaving the territories referred to in this article (that is, the Italian territory), as well as within the Italian territory itself, with only three exceptions: 1) for proven working needs; 2) for reasons of necessicty; 3) for health reasons.

It is allowed to return to your home or place of residence.

        The exceptions, in the event of checks, must be documented or self-certified (the self-certification form drawn up by the Ministry of the Interior, which had  also been drawn up for the Lombardy region and the other provinces of Northern and Central Italy, can be downloaded here

b) people with symptoms of respiratory infection and fever (greater than 37.5 ° C) are strongly recommended to stay at home, limit social contacts as much as possible and contact their doctor;

c) people subjected to the quarantine measure or tested positive for the virus are absolutely prohibited from leaving their home.

Violation of the provisions summarized above is penalized.

Furthermore:

d) face-to-face teaching activities (in schools and universities) remain suspended at least until April 3, 2020, as are meetings of the authoruties.

Assemblies of people in public places or places open to the public are also prohibited.

The health  measures already laid down by the government are obviously confirmed:

a) wash your hands often. It is recommended to make hydroalcoholic solutions for hand washing available in all public places, gyms, supermarkets, pharmacies and other meeting places;

b) avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections;

c) avoid hugs and handshakes;

d) maintaining, in social contacts, an interpersonal distance of at least one metre;

e) respiratory hygiene (sneezing and/or coughing in a handkerchief to avoid contact between hands and respiratory secretions);

f) avoid the promiscuous use of bottles and glasses, in particular during sports activities;

g) do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands;

h) cover your mouth and nose if you sneeze or cough;

i) do not take antiviral drugs and antibiotics, unless they are prescribed by your doctor;

l) clean surfaces with chlorine or alcohol based disinfectants;

m) use a mask only if you suspect you are sick or if you are assisting sick people.

I therefore ask each member of the community of the Scuola Normale to  respect, with the utmost responsibility and in an absolutely rigorous way, the new decisions of the Government, to protect their own and other people’s health.

We will be able to define and communicate, tomorrow or the day after, the specific provisions, including organizational ones, which will become necessary within the Scuola Normale, also taking into account any further specifications that may be ordered by the health and government authorities.

The Director,

Luigi Ambrosio