© Reuters/Flavio Lo Scalzo
People with flags protest lockdown measures in Milan, Italy, May 18, 2020.
The governor of Lombardy, the northern region at the epicentre of Italy's coronavirus outbreak, said on Wednesday that he had been given a police escort after growing criticism of his administration's handling of the crisis.
Lombardy, Italy's richest and most populous region and the motor of its economy, is one of the worst affected areas of the world by the coronavirus, accounting for around half of the country's more than 32,000 dead.
The regional government, controlled by opposition leader
Matteo Salvini's anti-immigrant League party, has seen approval ratings plunge amid angry attacks on its response and on health sector reforms by previous League governments that many say left the region badly prepared to face the epidemic.
Regional governor Attilio Fontana, a close Salvini ally, gave no details of the security escort but said the decision to assign one had not been at his request but had been decided by the "relevant authorities".
"I'm sorry for the sake of my family who have been a bit worried. Over recent days, there's been too much venom. Unfortunately, it's the result of lies told by certain political forces which have poisoned the atmosphere and stirred up this dangerous climate of hatred."
The decision to assign the escort, as Italy has begun to ease lockdown restrictions imposed almost three months ago, highlighted widespread public anger at the handling of both the health crisis and the lockdown measures.
Comment: Disruption, death and defiance - life in 3-D has become unbearable to many, predictable by some, a calculated opportunity to the few.