MILAN/ROME (Reuters) - Italy won plaudits for its discipline and unity in fighting the Western world’s first coronavirus outbreak in the spring, but that sense of common purpose is unravelling in the face of the second wave.Despite a surge in infections and deaths, Italians who stoically accepted a blanket national lockdown in March are now less willing to respect far less rigid restrictions, egged on by local politicians at odds with the government in Rome. Italy last week became the sixth country in the world to surpass 40,000 COVID-19 fatalities. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has progressively tightened measures to try to stem the trend, calibrating them around the country according to local infection rates, but so far with little success. The industrial northern regions of Lombardy and Piedmont have been hit by the most stringent curbs, with bars, restaurants and most shops and services closed, and an order to stay at home other than for work and essential needs. Yet a stroll around Lombardy’s capital Milan when the norms came into force on Friday showed many people flouting them, with lines of striking taxi drivers and people sipping their morning coffees in front of open cafes. “In March I lost my dad to COVID but I am not afraid of the virus for me or my loved ones now, I am much more afraid for my company,” says 46-year-old Tiziana Sette, who has had to close down the gym she runs in Milan for the second time this year. Sette says she has received none of the grants the government promised to businesses hit by the lockdowns and is worried that even when she is allowed to reopen she will never regain the number of customers needed to stay in business.