Italy is one of the countries with the highest corona virus rates worldwide. The number of fatalities from COVID-19 in Italy has exceeded thousands and has been shown to increase sharply as compared to other economies. The epidemic has a brutal impact on the nation’s economy as industrial output has suddenly dropped. Italy occupied a significant position in the industrial production value of EU member states. Talking about the prevalent stats of Italy, there were total 234,531 cases registered till 5th June 2020 as per worldometer. These numbers are constantly escalating, though so far, 163,781 recoveries has been registered by the same source.
Small and medium-sized enterprises or the SMEs provides a major boost to the country’s value output. The Italian SMEs sector provides the economy about a third of its value and further provides for half of the nation’s total employment. The spread of the corona virus greatly affects the Italian economy because Italy’s economic structure is highly dependent on SMEs. Whereas these SMEs rely on loans and finance so as to meet their business needs. The vulnerability faced by the Italian financial sector in COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the operation of SMEs, causing the Italian economy to drop significantly. Though the health recovery of infected patients has temporarily created some hopes for the country.
In the medical sector, the demand for hospital supplies and equipment is rapidly increasing due to the effect of COVID-19. The Italian government has directed Siare Engineering International Group s.r.l. to increase the production of ventilators from the range of 160 to 500 monthly, as the fatalities so far have exceeded thousand figures in the country. In the same way, a few players such as General Electric Co., and 3M have increased their efforts to produce protective equipment to combat the virus. Both General Motors and Ford motors have stated the likelihood of using their respective plants in the country for the production of ventilators.
Keeping in mind the current scenario, various automakers are shifting toward manufacturing PPE kits so as to prevent the spread of the virus. For an example, a similar automaker brand- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has entered into the realm of producing face masks. It has further declared to donate the essential medical equipment to the medical staff and first responders. The company has planned to produce a million face masks per month, that will be donated to emergency responders. This generous and much needed move of automotive manufacturing companies will not just provide the essential protective equipment but will also somehow generate temporary substitute employment opportunities for the carmakers’ ancillary workforce.
