Daily Life in Italy During the Corona Virus Period, CoViD-19

For more than a month, Italians have been hearing about the ‘Corona Virus’ in China, after seeing the news on the news about how the Chinese Government is handling the epidemic. This news seemed like something that came from a faraway land that would never be able to hit the Italian peninsula as it was the kind of situation that only happened to ‘other people’, a fairly normal response, like most of the rest of the population. respond. Thus, people are slow to implement any contingency plans.

At one point in early January, the Italian manager was advised to make contingency plans, but this is not the first time this manager has been advised to set rules to protect people from the common cold. However, it is better to think positively than to live in fear of the Corona Virus which is considered ‘impossible’ to spread outside China.

People of all backgrounds, not just Italians, tend to prefer to see life from a positive perspective; however, planning for the best is sometimes akin to throwing the bucket into someone else’s path. Politicians are now trying to find solutions to help small businesses face difficulties during this ordeal, and money is being allocated to help families with children who need to keep mom or dad at home to supervise children whose schools have just opened. closed.

On the surface, this seems to be the best solution to the problems facing the country, but the long-term effect has the potential to bury the country in unpaid debt, causing difficulties for future generations.

Not only hugs, kisses and handshakes are prohibited. Football matches open to fans have also been banned for thirty days by decree of Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister of Italy. This saddens most Italians, although many argue that even football players should have the right to keep their distance from one another. Furthermore, all sporting events must be held behind closed doors until the third of April, something that remains extraordinary in a country known for kisses on the cheek.

COVID-19 has dramatically disrupted religious practices, particularly Catholicism, during February and March 2020. Yesterday, the author visited the Church of Santo Stefano in Borgomanero, where the guards had just cleaned the floors and disinfected the church. No living soul was found, neither clergy nor tourist, which would have allowed the author to focus on the beautiful stained-glass frescoes and windows in silence.

If one were to travel across Italy this month, one would find many churches without parishioners as people are naturally afraid to meet each other in enclosed spaces no matter how large and accommodating they are. It has been recommended that priests remove holy water from the Catholic Church for fear of spreading the virus. Although citizens and tourists can visit holy places, church services must be conducted via television and the internet. In addition, churches have been closed because, in recent years, people started stealing religious artifacts from them when churches and shrines were left unattended.

The author has researched what is happening in churches throughout Italy; however, there is more information available about the game of football and the viability of the economy, which seems to be the main focus at the moment. For example, in the news there is a lot of information about saving the reputation of ‘Made in Italy’, so lower-level employees are forced to work harder than before because they expect other countries to continue to demand their products in difficult times.

A company that had to stop producing medical face masks for fifteen years (due to Chinese competition), has suddenly had to reopen its doors to help meet the needs of the Italian population who do not have enough masks to protect its citizens from COVID-19.

Not having enough masks is ironic in a country famous for its Venetian Carnival celebrations. Unfortunately, the Venice Carnival parade had to be canceled this year for fear of contagion, causing the country to lose a lot of tourist dollars and starting the current crisis in Italian tourism. According to Assoturismo, ninety percent of hotel reservations in Rome have been cancelled, and the United States has issued a level-3 warning to its citizens, stating that they should avoid traveling to Italy in March.

Travelers visiting Italy are required to stay at home for 14 days after returning to the United States. A well-known leader of the Five Star Party is concerned that such travel restrictions could lead to discrimination against Italians and ‘Made in Italy’. Many members of La Lega believe in a bailout of 50 billion euros.

Citizens who used to hate watching the news because they generally hate politics are now glued to TV to see what will happen next, whether they should stock up on food and masks, whether or not they will go to work, and who will help them overcome the crisis.

On a positive note, unlike most Americans who have to worry about paying a lot of money to be treated for the Corona Virus, Italians know they won’t be carrying the burden of personal debt to pay for initial testing and further healing. The Sistema Sanitario Nazionale aims to cure all Italian citizens as well as those who have the appropriate visa to be in the country.

Despite these good intentions, it is possible that the health system will become overburdened with too many patients to care for during a crisis. For example, in a message written at 12:30 on the third of March, the Piemonte Region announced that simple surgical procedures using the operating room should be postponed (if not urgent procedures) to ensure that the spread of the virus is contained.

On the fourth of March, the Government stipulated that all schools and universities would be closed for a month until the fifteenth of March although they were allowed to give online lessons if possible with the aim of stopping the spread of the virus or at least slowing it down. its spread.

Until now, most Italians were suspicious of online education; therefore, most teachers have not received training on how to convert to online platforms; also most students are not ready for this new learning curve. Fortunately, this experience will change the mindset of Italians, so that everyone will learn to use the internet for study, telecommuting and flexitime.

The Prime Minister’s Council (DPCM) decree advises citizens to limit going out if they are over 65, refrain from shaking hands, refrain from kissing and hugging, and to avoid visiting family members in care homes or in assisted living. Residents are advised not to go directly to the ER, but must call 112 before leaving to make sure they are not positive for the Corona Virus.

The Lombardy region, after closing gyms and swimming pools, has also ordered its citizens not to go to local health clubs. Many residents living in Lombardy interpreted the order differently, so decided to go for a sports club in the nearby Piemonte County. Therefore, the Mayor of Novara, one of the towns in Piemonte, had to order that all health clubs in the city be closed.

Likewise, some people have tried to escape the Red Zone of detention in Lombardy to reach their families elsewhere. One example is two public school teachers from the southern city of Irpinia who had been ordered not to leave Codogno, but who returned home to Irpinia near Naples as quickly as possible where they were forced to quarantine with their families, causing the entire condominium to be quarantined.

Whether museums should remain open during the COVID-19 crisis remains a topic of debate among art enthusiasts. Museums take a lot of money while also attracting much-needed tourists from all over the world. Moreover, foreign tourists have to pay a much-needed tourist tax, known as tassa di soggiorno, which the cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice (and many other cities) will miss if tourism declines, not to mention tickets to museums which are sometimes more expensive. high for non-citizens. Italians themselves love to visit museums throughout their country, so they know they will be disappointed if they find the museum closed for a month.

Films, concert halls and theaters have opened once again, but Italian TV news has instructed people to leave the space between themselves and others. One suggestion is to leave an empty seat between every two seats, and this should be arranged by the venue owner when they sell tickets.

According to TV reports, entertainment fans have been slow to get out once again. While many Italians are not at all afraid of going to the cinema, there has been a huge drop in sales as evidenced by the emptying of theaters and concert halls. Over the past weekend (1-2 March 2020), according to the Associazione Generale Italiana Spettacolo (AGIS), there was a forty-four percent drop in ticket sales for various forms of entertainment.

Since Italians like to eat fresh food, they tend not to hoard food for crunch. While Americans typically store canned vegetables, frozen treats, and treats in glass jars, Italians prefer to buy fresh all the time — a fine habit, but it might be useful in a pinch to have something with an extended expiration date on hand. According to an Italian shopper, “It’s strange that they buy so many eggs and prosciutto.” Italian shoppers focus on buying fresh vegetables, fruit, tomatoes, bread, pasta and rice, the latter two of which do have a long shelf life.

Italians approach the COVID-19 crisis in various ways: Proactive Italians help others deal with this crisis in an organized and dignified way. They are urban planners who realistically present crises. Sergio Mattarella kept his cool while offering advice on how to unite as a nation. The counter-active Italians are those who stay stuck and don’t try to change the way they do business to meet the needs of the crisis.

They are unrealistic and unwilling to sacrifice anything to protect their employees, and many of them want to borrow huge sums of money to solve the tourism, health care, and job crises. At the same time, some religious Italians (not all) want to put everything in God’s hands without making any effort to avoid getting sick. Others are fatalistic, seeing only negative results, genuinely afraid of having to leave the house, obsessively cleaning everything around them.

Those who deny don’t even believe in the existence of the dangerous Corona Virus; many of them thought it was ‘just the flu’ and they didn’t take any precautions. Besides, others are just relaxed about it all because they think they should go with the flow. This reaction is common even in other cultures.

One can still see people in local coffee shops and bars during the Aperitif. Snacking and drinking with friends around 12:00 noon or enjoying Aperi-Cena in the evening is a delightful Italian tradition that is still being practiced during this time of the COVID-19 crisis. There will be a Women’s Day party on March 8th. There should be good participation although it will be much smaller than in previous years.

Maybe many people over the age of 65 are always looking forward to it, this year have to stay at home until the Corona Virus is conquered. People still have a good sense of humor, a pleasant smile, and a desire to watch funny Italian TV shows in the evening, and especially I Soliti Ignoti with Amadeo Sebastiani. Italy remains a happy place. Mauro Corona, renowned Italian sculptor, writer and Alpinist, still maintains his great sense of humor even though someone coined his last name, which made him feel like he was “starting to hate his name.”