'A once-in-a-generation event': lessons from a year of lockdown in Europe
by Jon Henley Europe correspondent from on (#5F3CA)
Measures first imposed in Italy a year ago seemed shocking at first but soon became the new normal across the continent
They seemed, this time last year, almost unimaginable: the most severe restrictions imposed on a western nation since the second world war. The whole of Italy is closed now," was the shocked headline in Corriere della Sera the next day.
On 9 March 2020, a population of more than 60 million was ordered to stay at home, permitted to venture out only under specific circumstances - solitary exercise close to home, grocery shopping, going to the doctor - on pain of a 400-3,000 fine.
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