Residents of Sicilian capital pray for another miracle from Saint Rosalia, who they say rescued the city from a deadly plague in 1625

Legend has it that in 1625, as a plague swept Palermo and killed dozens of people each day, Saint Rosalia appeared before a man.

Rosalia, a young Sicilian hermit who died 500 years earlier, told him that if the people of Palermo walked in procession while carrying her relics, to be found in a grotto on Monte Pellegrino, then the “evil fever” would disappear.

Q&A How can I protect myself and others from the coronavirus outbreak? Show Hide The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine. The UN agency advises people to: Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap

Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing

Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough

Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers

Advice about face masks varies. Wearing them while out and about may offer some protection against both spreading and catching the virus via coughs and sneezes, but it is not a cast-iron guarantee of protection Many countries are now enforcing or recommending curfews or lockdowns. Check with your local authorities for up-to-date information about the situation in your area. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

After months of debate over the authenticity of that apparition, Saint Rosalia’s remains – among them a piece of her jaw and three fingers – were paraded through the city at an event attended by thousands of devotees. When the plague began to ebb, she was proclaimed the holy protector of the city.

Four hundred years later, the prayers that Palermitans offer to Saint Rosalia travel in chain messages on WhatsApp. They are asking her for another miracle: free the city of coronavirus, which has killed more than 1,000 people in Italy.

The country has been under a government-imposed lockdown to contain the outbreak. Since then, the streets of Palermo have been desertedt. It is a surreal scene in one of the noisiest cities in southern Italy.

So far, the virus has infected about 111 people in Sicily, a relatively small number compared with the rest of the country, but enough to scare people.

Sicilians are well aware of Lombardy’s wealth, where the outbreak has killed 500 people. If Covid-19 spreads with the same intensity in a disadvantaged region such as Sicily, the consequences for the population could be catastrophic.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Via Maqueda in Palermo is normally teeming with tourists and shoppers. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

Leoluca Orlando, 72, mayor of Palermo

The last emergency in Palermo was in 1992, when the city was invaded by thousands of soldiers. The enemy then, the mafia, had claimed more victims than coronavirus.

The bosses of Cosa Nostra waged war on the state, killing police officers, judges and journalists. In response, the government dispatched 5,000 military personnel to contain what, by that point, had become an all-out offensive against the Italian state.

“I’ll never forget those days,” says Leoluca Orlando. “But it was also the beginning of a revolution that brought this city to raise its head against the mafia. It took years before we managed to weaken the power of Cosa Nostra in our city.

“We didn’t resolve the mafia scourge in four days, just as we won’t overcome coronavirus in a week. Winning battles requires patience and determination.”

Play Video 1:44 Coronavirus: quarantined Italians sing from balconies to lift spirits – video

Shortly after the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, announced a nationwide lockdown, hundreds of Palermo’s citizens besieged the few supermarkets that were open late to stock up on food and water.

“I’ve been at home in voluntary isolation for days. From here, thanks to smart working, we hold the city council meetings online to cope with the emergency. In 24 hours we translated into 18 languages the new guidelines to avoid transmission of the virus.”

Last year, Orlando defied the far-right former interior minister Matteo Salvini, who closed all the ports to rescue boats trying to save migrants.

“I recently read a poem on coronavirus. It said that if we all make it through, at the end of this tragedy we’ll be better people. At this time, the world views Italians as plague-stricken. I hope someone has learned a lesson. I hope people realise what it means to be discriminated against. I hope they understand how it feels to have the doors slammed, just as we did with migrants.”

Massimo Milani, 65, shopkeeper

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Massimo Milani, LGBT activist and coordinator of Palermo Pride. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

Experts predict the economic impact of coronavirus in Sicily could be devastating. In a region where the strongest sector of the economy is tourism, the fear that people will not visit this summer is taking hold.

“The price we’ll pay for this epidemic will be high,” says Milani, an LGBT activist and coordinator of the Palermo Pride festival. Enjoying the sun in her chair outside her famous leather-goods shop in Palermo, she takes in the eerie silence on streets normally teeming with tourists and shoppers. Even before Conte ordered retailers to close, few shopkeepers in Palermo were opening their doors for business.

Italian nurse: 'An experience I would compare to a world war' Read more

“What worries me most isn’t the economy but the human cost. This epidemic will have a lasting effect on interpersonal relations, which were already compromised before coronavirus. Before the outbreak, people spent less time together. Now we keep a distance from each other for health reasons. When will it end?

“This situation will leave a mark on everyone’s soul. I’m thinking about those neighbourhoods in Palermo that thrive on human relations. Of course, we must be vigilant because some people will try to get rich from the emergency as well.”

Francesco ‘Terza Putia’, 42, fishmonger

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Terza Putia at his fish stall. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

In the historic open-air market of Ballarò, the most noisy and colourful neighbourhood in Palermo, a man has already taken advantage of the lack of masks in the city. While pharmacists display signs telling customers that masks have run out, he has set up a stall in the market selling packages containing 14 masks for €5. Despite the fact they resemble dust-cloths, judging by the number of traders wearing them, business is going well.

“Unemployment is widespread here in Ballarò and people make do as best they can,” says Francesco, known in the area as Terza Putia (Third Shop) – the number of his fish stand.

Last Wednesday night, Ballarò market was cleared, after the government ordered the closure of all shops, including market stalls. Before that traders wore masks and gloves though the streets were empty of customers.

“It is a very serious problem for us,” he says. “Here, we mainly sell fish and fruit. Our economy is based on the daily struggle to sell our products. For those who sell fresh fish, even a day without customers is a huge loss. In Ballarò, if coronavirus doesn’t kill us, hunger will.”

Samuel Agnetta, 27, pizza chef

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Samuele Agnetta, 27, pizza maker. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

Bars, pizzerias, restaurants: everything is closed in the city. The tables placed outside, on the streets of Palermo, are empty. The only business allowed is home delivery. At Pizzera la Brace, at the gates of the old Borgo Vecchio district, Samuele Agnetta, a 27-year-old pizza maker, is working tirelessly, all day, in front of a red-hot wood-burning oven.

The Confturismo-Confcommercio tourism confederation estimates a loss of €5bn-€7bn if the crisis continues until May, with an estimated 22 million fewer visitors in the next three months.

The governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, has estimated a 0.2% reduction in GDP over the year. For Samuele, who is not an economist, it’s enough to look at his pizzeria to understand it will not be a rosy summer for Palermo.

“There was a queue here every night,” he says. “Before coronavirus, it was difficult to find a table. Look now – empty. Usually we have three chefs here. Today, I am alone, and 25 of the waiters and cashiers have stayed at home. There is no point making calculations because the economic damage will be incalculable.”

Don Gaetano Ceravolo, 58, priest

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The statue of Saint Rosalia, in the Sanctuary of Monte Pellegrino in Palermo. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

On top of Monte Pellegrino, overlooking the sea and the entire city, is the Sanctuary of Santa Rosalia, built in 1629, in the place where the saint’s bones were found. Inside the cave, there is a gilded statue of her contained in ornate urns and surrounded by relics.

Tourists are few in these parts, especially in this period, but those who stop by leave a message in the visitors’ book at the entrance. “Santa Rosalia, save us from the coronavirus,” reads one of the most recent ones.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gaetano Ceravolo. Photograph: Lorenzo Tondo/The Guardian

“From the beginning of the outbreak, two out of three messages written in the visitors book are on the coronavirus,” Gaetano Ceravolo, the parish priest, says. “Palermitans are very devoted to the saint. Especially at times like this.

“It is not the first time a virus has claimed victims in the city. Here, in 1600, there were between 50 and 100 deaths per day. It was a massacre. Even then, there was a quarantine. Those who did not respect the ban, forcing them to stay at home, were hanged.”

Now, by order of the religious authorities, all masses, funerals and marriages are banned to try to limit the spread of coronavirus. To encourage his faithful to remain indoors, Gaetano live-streamed Pope Francis’s Angelus prayer service on the sanctuary’s website.

“It is not going to mass that makes us Christian. This virus is likely to drive us away from each other. Instead we must look for the good, even in such dramatic situations.

“If we cannot embrace or exchange a handshake, then we take the opportunity to smile at each other, to exchange words of affection or simply to look at each other. We need to make the best of this crisis. It is the only way to survive.”