Few things could possibly distract Italians—a population prone to health concerns in the best of circumstances—from panicking about an actual infectious epidemic. But one of them is pasta. Better: a debate over pasta. For several days now, parts of northern Italy have either been on lockdown or high alert due to the outbreak of Covid-19. As of March 4, the disease has killed more than 100 people and more than 3,000 have tested positive for it.

The epidemic is overwhelmingly concentrated in the northern region of Lombardy, where some towns are under quarantine and people have been asked not to leave home unless absolutely necessary. Although shops remain open, panicked residents have been stockpiling food. Images of empty supermarket aisles and empty shelves with few, if any, boxes of pasta, have made the rounds on social media. There is, however, a glaring exception: Boxes of penne lisce (smooth penne) were all left behind.