Today, more than ever before it is mandatory to show that the whole country fully understands the seriousness of the Covid-19 infection and relies on the advice of experts.

As Rectors of the Lombard Universities we are deeply touched by what is happening and we have immediately implemented the requests of the national and regional authorities by suspending frontal teaching activities and deploying, not without a high technical commitment from our staff, distance learning activities. This allows and will allow our students to continue their teaching programmes safely, in order to ensure a regular course of study.
Our Universities, usually a place of aggregation and intense scientific and cultural exchanges, are today sadly empty, but we want this to be testimony to how social containment is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of the virus.
However, our country cannot resist for long if each citizen does not do his or her part according to the most important principle, which is that of social containment, staying home as much as possible and reducing external activities to the minimum. Up to today we have hunted and chased the virus and all this has resulted in the saturation of our hospitals and intensive care units to a level of complexity and severity never seen before. It is relieving to read about the closeness and appreciation shown to the medical and nursing staff of our hospitals, but everyone must understand that if we do not get the growth curve to slow down with the seriousness of our behavior, all their efforts will be in vain.

We call upon all citizens and residents in Italy, regardless of their region of residence, to follow as strictly and as scrupulously as possible the indications included in the latest Prime Ministerial Decree and related implementing provisions.

No one feels far away or, even worse, immune from this serious epidemic, which we will only be able to face and overcome with a common effort based first and foremost on trust in the experts, then on understanding and action.
The Rectors of the Lombard Universities
Prof. Remo Morzenti Pellegrini – Università degli studi di Bergamo
Prof. Gianmario Verona – Università Bocconi
Prof. Marco Montorsi – Humanitas University
Prof. Gianni Canova – IULM
Prof. Federico Visconti – LIUC
Prof. Ferruccio Resta – Politecnico di Milano
Prof. Riccardo Pietrabissa – Iuss Pavia
Prof. Elio Franzini – Università degli studi di Milano
Prof. Angelo Tagliabue – Università dell’Insubria
Prof. Francesco Svelto – Università degli studi di Pavia
Prof. Maurizio Tira – Università degli studi di Brescia
Prof. Franco Anelli – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Prof. Enrico Felice Gherlone – Università San Raffaele
Prof.ssa Giovanna Iannantuoni – Università Bicocca"