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Italy's five-week-old national lockdown appears to have been a little hard to take for some people during Sunday's national Easter holiday, which also coincided with one of the warmest and sunniest days across the country so far this year.
Most indications show that the majority of Italians are respecting the rules of quarantine that requires the country's more than 60 million residents to stay at home unless they work in what has been determined to be "vital" industries or unless they are out to shop for food or for medical reasons.
Sunday was at least a small exception, according to Italian media reports covering the Easter holiday when the weather was rated "near perfect" in all but the most northern mountainous parts of the country by the Italian meteorological center.
There was a story in several news sites about a police helicopter spotting several rooftop barbecues in the Sperone District of the city of Palermo on the southern island region of Sicily, including outdoor grills, singing, dancing and even fireworks. Police found it easy to identify some of the culprits due to videos some attendees posted on social media.
In Frosinone, a couple left home to search for wild asparagus, which sprouts up in wooded areas this time of year. They were discovered after they fell into a ravine and had to call the police for help.
In Le Marche, a central Italian region on the country's eastern coast, a family of four was caught enjoying the good weather with a visit to the beach and a swim, until they were sent home by the Coast Guard.
In Rome, around 2,000 police officers carried out more than 17,000 random vehicle checks, especially on routes between the city and the seaside. All told, authorities said 108 people were fined.
In the eastern province of Pescara, television reports showed a man jogging on the beach, who tried to outrun the police. He was eventually caught.
Despite the examples of a handful of rule-breakers during the Easter, Italy's Carabinieri police force said Monday that overall compliance with national lockdown rules has been high.
"The vast majority continue to comply with the rules," the statement said.
Italy's national lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte exactly five weeks ago, and there are concrete signs that it is having its desired effect.
As of Monday, the number of Italians in intensive care with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has fallen for ten consecutive days, and the overall number of hospitalized patients has fallen in most of the last ten days. New coronavirus infections are trending downward as well, though with more than 20,000 dead from the outbreak, the country remains one of the hardest hit in the world.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)