ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the key concepts of pandemic and crisis management and then goes on to explain the management of the COVID-19 crisis and people’s behavior in response to it, specifically in Italy. As the chapter begins, the concept of pandemic is introduced and the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is compared to past pandemics, noting the Italian structure of governance and the resulting socio-structural and economic vulnerabilities that formed the context of the COVID-19 response in Italy. The chapter next lays out the events that led to Italy’s COVID-19 response and recovery program, particularly its governmental regulations. This chapter emphasizes the decision makers’ challenges in organizing the response and recovery effort as they sought to create support around governmental policies. It highlights the situation of deep uncertainty in which both institutional decision makers and laypeople found themselves, as they were among the first in the Western world to respond to COVID-19 and recover from it. This status of being first in responding to COVID-19 created a context of uncertainty concerning which protective actions to recommend and undertake, given the impossibility of knowing how long the crisis would remain a threat. Uncertainty also stemmed from the gradualness with which knowledge unfolded regarding how the virus spreads and how long it remains on surfaces. The chapter moves on to consider Italy’s COVID-19 response in greater detail and concludes with an overview of the book’s organization and structure.
