Italian Mayors Are Losing Their Shit Over People Refusing to Stay Inside

For residents who didn’t seem to get the memo to stay inside to stop the coronavirus from ravaging more of Italy, a bunch of Italian mayors and other politicians have resorted to straight-up threats.

A video compilation that went viral on Twitter over the weekend shows officials absolutely unloading on their residents still outside playing or planning parties in various cities and regions around Italy, which is currently the epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m getting news that some would like to throw graduation parties,” Vincenzo de Luca, the president of the Campania region in southern Italy, said in an address last week. “We will send over the police with flamethrowers.”

“Where the fuck are you all going?” Gualdo Tadino mayor Massimiliano Presciutti asked residents of his town in Umbria. “You and your dogs, which must have an inflamed prostate?”

Read; Italian doctors are coming out of retirement to treat coronavirus — and dying

Italy has been crushed by the coronavirus, with the nation reporting hundreds of new deaths daily as the illness has overwhelmed its hospitals. Making matters more dire is that the country’s population is one of the oldest in the world, as over a fifth of Italy’s population is 65 or older.

The Italian government instituted a national quarantine on March 9, and has increasingly tightened restrictions as the virus has torn its way through the country. Over the past weekend, during which over 1,400 people died in Italy alone, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte shuttered all non-essential businesses.

But as other countries, including the United States, have shown, forcing people to stay inside as much as possible has proven to be a tall order. That hasn’t stopped the Italians from trying.

"I'm gonna catch you, tomorrow. Not next year-- tomorrow!" warned Messina Mayor Cateno de Luca. "I'm the mayor. You won't stroll in my town."

"You can't play ping pong. Go home, play some video games," another mayor yelled at a man who's outside and, well, playing ping pong. "I'm the mayor of this city. I will make you follow this decree."

Cover: Screenshot of video posted to Twitter