Coronavirus: Petrol Stations Closing

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, more and more businesses are closing with petrol stations beginning to close in Italy in the hardest-hit areas of the outbreak. Starting on Wednesday evening, the petrol stations on motorways are reportedly to be closed with other closures coming in the next few days and weeks.

This could be a scary preview into the UK’s future, as it can be argued the UK and other countries are only a few weeks behind a crisis like Italy. The Italian Government argues these closures are necessary as the petrol stations can cause spread of the virus, but it is a drastic measure that would be concerning to see in other countries.

The Italian outbreak has become tragic in recent days with total deaths surpassing 6000 and cases over 60,000. Medical staff in Italian hospitals are unable to keep up with the spike in patients and do not have enough supplies or ICU beds to deal with the crisis. These measures are attempting to slow the increase in cases and hopefully bring an end to the crisis within a few weeks or months as seen in China where the case totals have slowed dramatically after over 6 weeks of lockdowns.

Currently there are no plans to close petrol stations in the UK, but throughout the UK there are severe economic pressures after the national stay at home order was issued Monday. The combination of these health and economic pressures are likely to cause a crisis in other countries as seen in Italy, and governments around the world are hoping to prepare as much as possible before their case totals begin to climb rapidly.