BBC: The government in Rome have seemed rather confused about school closures; for example, one minute suggesting they won’t be closed and then, suddenly, announcing they would be. It’s not been easy for the government in Rome
Geraci: Indeed, it has not been easy and their reaction, I understand, may have been perceived as being an erratic, swinging from extreme cautious to extreme danger. This closure of schools, with a sequence of decisions, first to close, then they’re not sure, then deciding to close it yesterday, has highlighted a little bit the difficult situation which they find themselves in. I have very simply personally told them before for many weeks very simply to copy and paste what China has done and of course adapt it to our economic social political systems see what we can do because China is now almost going back to normality and we are now chasing measures, closing the schools, suspending football matches without really tackling the core issue
BBC: Well what would you do that the Chinese have been doing and I don’t know you have something of an expert in China you’ve studied it for many years how would you do it given the Chinese in the end can send the People’s Army around to every subway station in every town, something that is not available to any democracy
Geraci: Well always cross a fine line between the freedom with individuals and where that freedom puts in danger the society as a whole. We do make decisions like this in our democracies every day, we tell people not to do strange things in public for example So the philosophy border can be adapted in extraordinary situations; we are not forcing people to do things that they go against our true values, human rights, but we can close the schools we suspend flight, we can suspend transport so we can suspend public events, but all at the same time. We can take a hit for maybe two three weeks, but then we can come out clean out of it.
BBC: I mentioned you’re a former economy minister and you are an economist. Your view is better as it were to have a severe closure in the short term than to have a very long prolonged crisis that might destroy economic confidence. Do I read you correctly?
Geraci: Indeed, you are absolutely correct, and that would go on for a long long period of time and give us a worst economic hit then it would have been the case had we closed down everything for two weeks. I’s like when we were children, we were playing football, everyone running after the ball: that’s what the Italian government seems to be doing now
BBC: A final question: that what makes you believe that you could achieve your goal and just a couple of weeks?
Geraci: if it wasn’t the case, then the situation would be even worse and then even more so we’d need to do it; and, in that case, we will do for three weeks. So, if two weeks are not enough, there is an even less justification for doing a piecemeal approach like we’re doing now.
BBC: The worry that people have about closing Italian schools is who ends up looking off the children, the grandparents who are themselves much more vulnerable to the illness than the young people themselves?
Geraci: That’s why this morning and we should expect some relief packages for parents that of course need to take days off third they cannot go to work because and you look after the children. Again, it’s just yet another example: to only close schools does not work because, at the same time, you need to think of what to do with the parents. I am proposing to introduce some subsidies for parents, paid holidays and things like that I hear the UK is also looking at. We have lots of self-employed people here as well and there will be hit, but national health safety first, but at the same time we need to look at the psychological and economic well-being of people who don’t have savings in the bank and therefore need the money in the very short term
BBC: Michele Geraci joining us from Rome, thank you very much indeed