To Slow the Coronavirus, We Need Messages of Egoism—Not Altruism

“In the time of a silent but dangerous virus, we need to rely upon the individual’s self-preservation instinct to save other lives.”

Despite recent demands by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for everyone to stay at home, many Italian citizens are not paying attention. Judging by the data at hand—since the national lockdown was imposed on March 9th—Italian authorities have now fined more than 40,000 citizens for breaching the Prime Minister’s order. In the city of Aosta (located in the north of Italy), for example, a patient did not communicate that he was experiencing symptoms of a Coronavirus-like infection to the hospital and underwent a plastic surgery. He was later diagnosed with Coronavirus, and he is now responsible for having infected a surgeon, a nurse, and an anesthesiologist.

Politicians, especially in the south of Italy, have reported numerous groups of people behaving irresponsibly. The mayor of Bari, Antonio Decaro, spotted a group of young people hanging out together in a park; he had to ask them to avoid gatherings and to respect the security measures. Gianfilippo Bancheri, the mayor of Delia (in Caltanisetta in Sicily), lamented that people were going to the grocery store too often, getting gas for their vehicles, and having barbecues together.

In Lombardy, the most affected region in Italy, data collection from the tracking of citizens’ phones pointed out that more than 40% of residents were ignoring the government’s appeal to stay in the proximity of their homes. On March 18th, the regional president of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, once more had to ask citizens to stay at home. Otherwise, more stringent and aggressive policies would have to be applied.