The COVID crisis and resulting lockdowns have strained Italian marriages with separation requests up 60% between 2019 and 2020, the Italian association of divorce lawyers said on Thursday. Of these, 40% of requests are on the basis of alleged marital infidelity, 30% for domestic violence and 30% due to other causes, the group said.

"There is an evident stress brought on by the emergency," said the lawyers. They said the strain on conjugal relations had been exacerbated by a sudden loss of work, and by other COVID-induced problems such as the difficulties of children with distance learning.