Lockdown, and how does it work?

Over the last month, the Italian government has continued to modify what our lockdown looks like. There were game changes almost every day last week as the rules became increasingly severe and was extended to the whole country! Our leaders are working hard to understand what are the best restrictions, what are the priorities, in which areas, while balancing pros and cons of the varying dynamics. However saving lives has prioritized over saving anything else in Italy, of which I am very proud.

It can be difficult to stay on top of the constantly changing restrictions. Information is spread via official channels, news, and social media. We try to keep up, and we try to understand. Meanwhile the rules of the game are real laws and not following them correctly can result in fines or potential lawsuits and jail time. Now put yourself in my friend's shoes. She runs her family's café in a residential neighborhood with a lot of elderly regular clientele. She shared with me that she was keeping the café open because she identified that her clientele need that space for social contact, a human connection. At the same time she was terribly worried about each and every one of them and found herself begging them to go home as soon as they had finished consuming their orders, wanting to protect them from infection.

Finally Thursday's law for full closures of all non-essentials made things clear and, with a sigh of relief, she closed the café. It hadn't been easy to stay open because the government doesn't call or write you to explain what you need to do. She had to go search online last once a day to discover for herself the most recently enacted guidelines. If she missed one, and was found not adhering, she could have faced a fine of hundreds of euros.

This is the English language infographic published by National police last week to explain what should stay open and what should be closed, as well as guidelines regarding leaving your home and watching for virus symptoms.