Since the entire country of Italy went to lockdown, the European Space Agency has announced that there has been a massive decrease in nitrogen dioxide in the country, especially in the northern areas of Italy.

The country has been placed on a dramatic lockdown restriction and has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe and outside China, the country where the virus started.

An animation of satellite images from ESA showed the number of toxins in the air above Italy from January 1 to March 11, 2020, by using a 10-day moving average.

Claus Zehner, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager of ESA, said, “The decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident.”

They added, “Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in emissions that we can see, coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities.”

At the beginning of 2020, heavy amounts of nitrogen oxide can be seen in the northern regions of Italy.

By March 11, 2020, at the time of the lockdown, the amount of nitrogen dioxide emissions can be seen decreasing.

In a statement that was released by the European Space Agency, they said: “This reduction is particularly visible in northern Italy which coincides with its nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.”

At the end of February 2020, certain parts of northern Italy, which includes 11 towns across Lombardy and Veneto were on lockdown.

On March 8, 2020, Italy announced a quarantine for its entire northern region.

On March 9, 2020, the Prime Minister of Italy, announced that quarantine measures will be expanded to the entire country.

By March 11, 2020, the Prime Minister of Italy announced a much stricter lockdown, where commercial and retail businesses will be shut down.

Grocery stores and pharmacies are currently open in the country.

The lockdown will be followed until April 3, 2020.

As of writing this article, over 31,506 people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus in Italy.

According to official numbers, 2,503 deaths have been confirmed in the country.