ROME | A few hours before the government announced it would lock down most of northern Italy over the weekend, word of the decree leaked and thousands of residents loaded up their cars or boarded trains to flee to the south — in defiance of the soon-to-be-applied quarantine.
It was virtually certain some of them carried with them the coronavirus the decree was meant to contain. Few seemed to care. One news report said a woman in Milan paid a taxi driver nearly $1,500 to be driven south to Rome. Another man loaded up his family on a fishing boat and headed south.
The breakdown of the social order was so severe that 40 hours later, the government extended the decree to the rest of the country, even in parts of the country free of COVID-19, the disease coronavirus causes.
Italy has already reported more than 10,000 positive cases. The country’s fatality rate is running at more than 6% — far higher than other countries. In a convivial, expressive, very public culture, a quarantined Italy presents no end of startling sights.
Once-packed piazzas are devoid of locals and of the hordes of foreign tourists who traditionally descend on Italy’s vast cultural storehouse. Critical end-of-season matches have been called off in a country that loves soccer. Prisoners denied family visits because of infection fears stage deadly riots. Bars close at 6 p.m. and there’s a two-week wait in some cities for grocery delivery services.
Museums, archaeological sites, schools and movie theaters — all closed. Wedding and funerals have been postponed. The March 29 Rome Marathon, an annual tradition, has already been scrubbed by organizers.
Just Wednesday, the stressed government of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that all stores except pharmacies and food markets will be closed in response to the outbreak.
Emanuele Carloni, a modern language and communications student whose schedule has been upended after universities were closed until April and possibly beyond, captured the national mood.
“It’s confusing and perplexing,” said Mr. Carloni, 20. “You develop certain habits: go to classes, study, go out and see friends. Now we can’t do any of that. After a while, a dark sense of worry sets in.”
Part of the rationale behind the national lockdown was to remove any incentive for people to leave the northern parts of the country — where almost all the more than 8,500 confirmed infections are located. The number of new cases since Monday has vaulted Italy past South Korea to having the second-highest number of active cases in the world, behind only China.
“Italians have always had a reputation of playing by their own rules, but this kind of behavior is unheard of,” said Alessandro Amadori, a psychologist and the vice-president of the Piepoli Institute, an opinion research group.
The newspapers are full of stories of panic: Fights broke out in Rome as supermarkets began running low on milk, bread, and eggs. There were multiple reports of road rage in the northern part of the country when traffic backed up near checkpoints. There were also reports in several cities of con artists looking to collect bogus fees or sell useless equipment to the unsuspecting.
“I had someone come to my door, supposedly to perform some vague service, and it was a big struggle to get him to leave,” said Elise Sanders, a drama and literature teacher from South Carolina who has worked in Rome for four years. Ms. Sanders is teaching her classes online during the crisis
“Some of my colleagues had similar experiences in the last few days but luckily none of them were taken advantage of,” she said.
Pietro Paganini, a co-founder of Competere, a think tank, said the disorienting feeling of a world turned on its side is strongest among Italy’s youngest residents.
“Despite all its political and economic problems, Italy has been a relatively fortunate country over the last generation,” Mr. Paganini said. “Technologically advanced, at peace, stable. Italians under the age of 30 or 40 have not really faced significant diversity, at least until the arrival of the coronavirus.”
Anna Maria Bianchini, 26, a coffee bar worker staying at home after her place of work shuttered amid the crisis, said the biggest problem was the uncertainty.
“I have never been so frightened in my life,” she said. “First they shut down northern Italy. Then they shut down the whole country. People are getting sick and dying. What’s next? I can’t sleep at night worrying about what could happen next.”
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.