Economics Working Papers DISEI

The COVID 19 pandemic has generated a worldwide health and economic crisis. Italy has been the first OECD country to be hit at the end of February 2020 and therefore the first to decide on the measures to contrast it. From March 10 to May 18, 2020 Italy locked down the entire country. It was a Governmental emergency decision, taken to limit the spreading of the pandemic, to reduce its impact on the health system and to protect the population. Health was considered the top priority in front of the exponentially increasing numbers of cases and deaths. Different regions in Italy were hit with different strengths, with on average northern regions more affected. This paper studies the evolution of the COVID 19, based on the burden it imposed over the regional health system during that first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. Relying on detailed regional information, we calculate a measurable and comparable metric to track the evolution of the pandemic across region, over the entire lockdown period in Italy. We propose two different indices, one with fixed base and one with a mobile base, highlighting and comparing two different perspectives over the same phenomenon and showing how different regions have been hit by the pandemic. These indices could also be used in a comparative and long run perspective analyzing different countries and phases of the pandemic over time and possible reaction curves.