Starting up again

Photo source: https://www.ilpost.it/2020/05/05/notizie-martedi-5-maggio-coronavirus-italia/

Yes, Italy has begun to reopen a little. Laws are set at the national level, then governments of individual regions can set more relaxed or severe versions of those laws based on their context, such as how many cases they have and how prepared their health care system is to handle new cases.

School are definitely online for the rest of the year and wont reopen until next September or later. Street markets can open if local police monitor social distancing. I'm not tempted to go. Last week I rode by the market on my way to the grocery store and there was a super long line to get in. 

Starting yesterday we can visit close family, but not gatherings: check on your parents, but don't invite the aunts. Funerals can take place with maximum 15 people present. Manufacturing can restart. Restaurants can sell takeaway, though honestly some in our town have been doing that all along with the city government's permission. We can do sports in a larger radius from home. Theoretically we could go run or hike anywhere within regional borders, but since Lombardy is still full of infected people (we live in the hardest hit region), local government wants us to be extremely cautious. For example, our mayor said that since we have a couple of parks in our town, we can't legitimatize driving out of the city limits for exercise and would risk getting stopped and fined. No hiking in the mountains yet, my love.

Every time we leave home, we have to wear something to cover mouth and nose, and to access public transportation, we also need to wear gloves. Probably any kind of gloves are alright, but I imagine a ton of plastic is going to be dedicated to single use gloves, thrown away (recycled? Fingers crossed!), and that makes me feel sick. As we approach Summer and the weather heats up, it's going to become ever more torturous to wear the mask and gloves.

Next, starting May 18th, some more shops can open (along the lines of essential), museums, galleries, and libraries who guarantee social distancing can reopen, and professional team sports will be allowed to restart training.

From June 1st, hairdressers can reopen as well as all the other shops, cafés and restaurants.

Data, society, a pandemic, everything

I'm attaching links of the three best articles I've read thus far for their comprehensiveness and clarity, written by the same author. A serious read based on tons of data, taking at least 30 minutes to read through each, take your time to absorb each one.

The latest article was published on Apr 1st, and is specific to covid-19 in the USA. I really appreciated what it has to say, especially the final point: E Pluribus Unum.
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-out-of-many-one-36b886af37e9

His first covoid-19 article, written Mar 10th and updated Mar 19th, was about the virus' emergence, spread, how  different countries have approached containment, how effective various strategies worked in different contexts.
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

The second article, published on Mar 19th, is about various ways that society can handle coming out from the peak and what happens afterwards, steps back to "life as normal."
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

It's going to be alright

Turn the speakers up or put on your headphones...

Do Re Mi - Covid 19 version

A talented NZ lady transformed a scene from "Sound of Music," where Maria teaches the kids about COVID-19. It's sweet and very amusing!

Face Masks

Next time I have to go out to buy food, I will actually try this DIY mask (at this link - thanks JC!). Earlier I discussed my observation of the face mask trend in a previous blog post. I like that there is no sewing involved in this DIY, which means that:

1. I can make it five times faster; 
2. I could more easily change colors and styles to coordinate my Spring fashion going-out-in-a-pandemic outfit; and 
3. I can more easily reuse the handkerchief without one day having to undo stitching when I no longer want a face mask. 

I know that masks are for stopping the wearer from spreading germs, not for avoiding getting germs. This is one reason I didn't bother with a face mask for the first 5 weeks of the pandemic, and the other being that there is a massive shortage and it's 1000 times more critical that the commercially made masks are available to those who work among sick or the public, or are more at risk of not living through a case of Coronovirus. 

But if wearing a mask doesn't hurt, and may help reduce germ spread, then it wouldn't be a sacrifice to wear one of my cute under-appreciated handkerchiefs for those 1 or 2 weekly excursions get food. I've already stayed at home for nearly 6 weeks and lost my paycheck for the foreseeable future. Strapping a handkerchief to my face wouldn't be a major sacrifice and is visually reassuring to the people I pass in the stores. Maybe more than my neon pink bandana tied in a triangle that recalls bandits of the wild west.

The tutorial also provides ideas for recycling bands if you don't have hairbands available. Be creative. Don't panic, have fun!

Half mast

At noon today March 31st, our mayor invited the city to join in a moment of silence in grieving for those lost to Coronavirus, along with all other towns and cities across the country. Flags are at half mast. Our mayor then posted the somber video clip to the town facebook page. Click to watch

In our tiny town, two people have passed away and fourteen others are currently fighting it, at home (two) or in the hospital (five), or have already recovered (seven). I don't personally know them, still... feeling sad.

Should you go out?

There are many aspects to consider and sometimes it's hard to understand whether it's okay to go out. Italians have prepared this helpful website to help you find the answer. Click here to find out if you should go out.

More information, updated and developed

Remember the article I sent about a week ago, saying it was the best one I'd read on Coronavirus (most comprehensive and detailed)?
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

Well, the author has updated it, as well as writing this follow up article, again, extra comprehensive and extremely detailed all along the way, even discussing costs, logic, and outcome of various levels of lockdown severity. Here you go!
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

Photo credit: see article

I really feel sad

One of the first things I read this morning was that a friend here in Europe has probably caught Coronavirus. There aren't enough tests available for him to confirm it, but he has all those symptoms (fever, headache, sore throat, passing nausea and cough). He continues to self-quarantine and wait for it to pass.

I determined to work hard today and make it a good day. I finished digging up a bed all around the periphery of our yard, placing rocks along the border; hope to finish it tomorrow. I stopped to help my husband carry in a month's worth of groceries. He had worked hard on preparing the list beforehand, gathering, buying, and bagging everything; he just prefers to get more things and go less often. I go once in awhile for a few perishable things like salad or fresh bread. Without an Italian driver's license, I can only bring what I can carry in my bike bags.

He said after having to wait a little bit at the entrance, the rest was normal. Except one odd thing was that some of the aisles were cordoned off: plants, household items and non-food baby items. So he couldn't buy glue. Some hypotheses were that it was to make people go through the store faster, or else to block purchases of unfair advantage (since other shops are forced closed). Either way it's irritating because it doesn't feel right.

The rest of the afternoon, with my head covered in henna dye, I cleaned the bathroom, started laundry, tidied the kitchen, made dinner, and ordered a gelato delivery. Only at dinner did I noticed how tired I was. Our friend lost his grandfather today to natural causes, but the family won't be able to have a normal funeral, only the closest relatives can be present when they bury his cremated remains. However, the crematoriums are backlogged until early April. My husband is now connecting with his brother (quarantined in the next town) by playing online video games together; and I check Facebook and the web, only to discover a few starling pieces of information, some terrible, some great.

The number of new Coronavirus cases and the number of deaths has gone up again, a lot. Two hundred and fifty deaths per day a week ago turned into 350, then 627 yesterday and 800 today. Along with the whole nation, this knowledge makes me feel so sad. Some people are now posting on social media "alternative statistics" saying how many babies are being born in Italy, and today I read there were 1,123 babies born. That is happy news indeed.

Then I read another terrible thing. As a consequence of the high rates of infection spreading, and that people are still going out "too much" for work or exercise, new stricter measures are put in place from tomorrow until April 15th. We are not allowed out anymore for exercise, not even alone; no gatherings of more than two people in public places (fines up to 5000 euros); all artisans, construction, and home care must stop; non-essential private studios and offices closed; street markets are canceled; all accommodations must close and guests have 72 hours to find another solution. This makes me sad, not because of losing freedoms in order to prevent deaths. I just feel sad on top of sad.

Last paragraph now... to end on good news, the Chinese Evangelical church of Rome has raised thousands of euros to buy and give away 180 thousand face masks, dropping them off in mailboxes, one by one, across the city. And tonight I'm going to hug my husband extra tight.

Maybe it was foolish

When the school closures were announced February 23rd, my employers took their family out of town to quarantine in another location and I was no longer working. I had free time. I tried to be careful keeping distances, washing my hands, and trying to control my hands from touching my face. It's harder than you think!

[Photo credit: https://twitter.com/jamesckim/status/1238571037517733889/photo/1]

I still went to all my normal appointments, aesthetic treatment, physiotherapy appointments, and we ate dinner with my in-laws and some other friends, I met up for coffee with one of my closest friends because it's a big deal going through the biggest pandemic of my lifetime and I wanted to see her face. We went for a hike on March 7th, the day before our region became a quarantine zone.

Lots of people were wishful thinking and used the hashtag #Milanononsiferma that means Milan won't stop. They wanted to encourage the people to keep going out and supporting local businesses.

All these moments were potential risks. Risks that we can no longer afford to take in Italy. Now we can only go out for urgent medical care, work that cannot be done from home and cannot be put off, necessities like groceries or cigarettes, to walk or walk the dog. You must carry a permission slip and you must always keep distances. These are the laws for more than a week and the virus is still spreading at a high rate. We had these germs before quarantine and now they're showing up, or now you're spreading it to your quarantine buddies. It is going to be awhile before the virus stops spreading.  

Today's rates

Italy's current rates of daily new cases & daily deaths rate went from 2500 and 250 respectively to 3500 and 350 respectively.

The country is only six days into a complete full lockdown so until six days ago there was still a LOT of spreading of germs in a lot of the country.

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus
#Istayathome #Coronavirus

I didn't expect this

This breaks my heart. Today I saw this video of All Saint's church in Bergamo. The crematory can't even keep up in some cities that are the worst hit by #Coronavirus #deaths so the temporary solution is to keep the bodies in the church in coffins until they can be cremated.

This is what I imagined it was like during the plague. Obviously I'm not a historian, I can't compare the two pandemics. But I didn't expect to be seeing scenes like this in March 2020.

https://www.abruzzolive.it/la-scena-dei-cimiteri-pieni-a-bergamo-bare-nella-chiesa-e-salme-in-attesa-di-cremazione-da-giorni-video/

Psychological help line

On March 17th, after we had been staying at home for 3 weeks already, and the second week of national lockdown, our town posted a new community phone hotline for psychological help. 

"That's a great idea" I thought "are there already in week two?" Someone somewhere is already there. 

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.

A call to step up

I watched Bernie Sanders’ press release asking the President to declare a national state of emergency. He hadn’t yet? And I cannot express just how relieved I felt listening to his sincere and raw words: "we are all in this together." This is a humanitarian response. A Christ-like response, if you will.

Some quotes:

"If there ever was a time in the modern history of our country, when we are all in this together, this is that moment. Now is the time for solidarity, now is the time to come together with love and compassion for all, including the most vulnerable people in our society who will face this pandemic from a health perspective, or face it from an economic perspective." 

"We need to know what is happening right now in our country, in our states, and in fact all over the world. If there was ever a time for transparency, for honesty, and being straight forward, this is that moment. And we need that information coming from credible, respected scientific voices, of which we have many in our own country and all over this world. Not from politicians." 

"The bottom line is that in the midst of this unprecedented moment we need to listen to the scientists, to the researchers, to the medical folks, not to politicians." 

Then he lists a number of measures that would each be revolutionary in America, and weapons of mass relief. Many of his "welfare" type proposals would be revolutionary in America, such a big deal, but did you know they would be rather normal in most other wealthy countries?

VIDEO https://youtu.be/clomd4d4b98

Drive-thru

I read news that Denver created a free drive-thru Coronovirus testing site, following the Korean model. They should win a prize for fastest learning and implementation (who cares if they're copying, they learned what works and did it)!!! Thank the Lord God Almighty, they did it. Despite so much fighting, restrictions, and failures in other states. Colorado pulled it off, and lets pray the other 49 states get their act together and implement this model as far and wide as possible.

1. because it's free people will do it. They want to know if they have the virus so they know how strictly to quarantine themselves, just in case they're asymptomatic but contagious;
2. because it's drive-thru they don't have to worry that they'll get sick by sitting in the waiting room with others potentially infectious;
3. even if they test negative, it helps the government to have a wide public sampling to know how many have the virus, rather than only testing those who are very sick and very likely to have it.

Article https://www.koaa.com/news/national/coronavirus/colorados-first-drive-up-covid-19-testing-facility-opens-in-denver-is-free-of-charge?fbclid=IwAR161rJw5TtnUnZLCH4EORmmS55eyhgoi6hAC5cxN1nBEGI_7gqtL6qoVvI
Photo comes from the same article

Please cancel Grandma's party!

My Grandmother is turning 90 next week and my family has been plannign a party for months. I'm so proud of her accomplishment, so glad she's still with us. I wish I could fly over from Italy to hug her and see everyone in Oregon at the party next month. One uncle will fly from Connecticut, and one from California. My sisters will drive hours to Grandma's Retired living village.

I keep bringing up how we need to cancel the party. There are 15 Coronavirus cases in Oregon already and 67 tests pending. The elderly are the most vulnerable and while she's plenty feisty, she's not plenty fit. I feel like the dark voice of doom no one wants to be caught listening to, but I don't want the message at her party to be "Happy last birthday, Grandma!"

Confusing messages

On February 25th in Italy, there were 323 diagnosed cases of Coronavirus, mostly in Lombardy and some other regions in the north of the country. In the province of Milan, schools, churches, gyms, museums and movie theaters were closed, as well as all large public events.

This week my sister and mother were hoping to buy their plane tickets to visit me this summer. I'm so on board with that. I wasn't working so now I had plenty of time to chat with them about itineraries and prices. Something bugged me though, just in case there would be problems this summer with travel restrictions between Italy and the US, I told them to first check if their travel insurance would cover closures due to a pandemic. It took a few days for them to check, but in the meantime realized that it just wouldn't be a good time for them.

Meanwhile on the same day in the US, Coronavirus was in the news, but messages were very mixed to say the least. You could find reports full of facts, numbers, statistics. Here's an article quoting the CDC, click here.

Photo credit: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-news-us-pandemic-schools-business-closure-china-latest-a9359196.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1582655074

And on the other hand you saw the president acting like there was no big deal, making very general and approximative statements laced with just so much wishful thinking, it seemed like he was speaking straight from his imagination center. But he wasn't chatting with his family, he was addressing hundred and thousands of people, his own followers. Clicking here opens a news page from February 25th with a Trump rally speech clip.

This link goes to my favorite article so far on Coronavirus COVID-19 for its comprehensiveness and clarity, but it won't be published until March 10th.

And here is where you can check numbers and stats updated daily.

School closures and Church dismissed

As cases spread, people are feeling more validated in their concerns. Some have had been exposed and begin self-quarantining, some notice that their daily commute route goes through Codogno (Italy’s first hot spot). This prompted one small church community I know to announce Saturday evening that the next morning’s service is cancelled.

Sunday school teachers in my church talked about cancelling Sunday school the next day. Once we write to warn families that this service will be limited or cancelled completely, the majority respond that they will not be attending anyway. Later after the service, I heard later, the congregation decided together they should respect only meet with some special guidelines respected: 1 meter personal distancing and avoid physical contact. Our usual greet and hug tradition would be cancelled. Anyone with symptoms was begged to not come. 

My husband and I went to our last mass for awhile. You see, I’m protestant, from Baptist background, and my husband is Catholic, so for us building an ecumenical marriage means we respect both traditions and are part of both communities, together. This morning we went to our parish mass, swathed in pomp and incense, just before the eucharist wafers are about to be distributed, the priest asked the organist to stop playing mid-song for an announcement. He says per directions, the eucharist will be placed into worshipper’s hands, not placed into the mouth. Mass finishes and aside from a few huddles, everyone else avoids contact and dashes home to make lunch. 

In the afternoon, only a few hours later, there is a Catholic church directive to cancel mass from that moment on. Those who were planning to go in the evening were out of luck. No more mass for awhile. There’s also a government directive that schools will be close for the week in the entire Lombardy region. Every went straight to the grocery store and ransacked the aisles.

Photo credit: https://patch.com/virginia/oldtownalexandria/northern-virginia-school-closings-related-new-coronavirus

Trends and general panic

Italians suddenly want to stock up on Amuchina brand hand sanitizer gel and face masks. These immediately became scarce and profiteers were selling the items on Amazon for the cost of gold: little bottles of Amuchina or a single face mask were listed for multiple hundreds of euros. Pure madness. Thank God people are now posting DIY recipes for hand sanitizer so no one has to go without.

Since the day Milan first splashed in the news for Coronavirus cases, every article had a picture of someone wearing a mask while standing around recognizable parts of the city. I personally went into the city multiple times for work, errands, and to donate blood (don't forget to donate!). I used public transportation exclusively. I only saw maybe one in twenty people had a mask. Wondering why so many had them in the photos, I realized, of course: photos of people in the coronavirus hot spot are not as interesting as photos of people with face masks in the coronavirus hot spot. When you only see pictures of people wearing face masks, you end up feeling left out if you don't have one, like how you feel showing up to a Halloween party without a costume. The grab to buy face masks makes me the more angry than other panic buying phenomena because many vulnerable people (immune-depressed, cancer patients, elderly) weren’t able to, and still aren’t able to, get their hands on one because others bought them before they even asked themselves if they really needed one.

Some countries are suddenly dealing with a shortage of toilet paper, not because production stopped, and not because the need increased, only because everyone went out to stock up more than they normally would have, and no one wants to be left out, so everyone tries to stock up all at once. Some people didn't get to buy any at all. Do you feel good about that now, hoarders? You know who you are. We've seen some strange phenomena about the panic reaction. Panic triggers set off irrational trends. Moral of the story: responsible unselfish citizens just buy what they need for now. You are going to be able to buy it again tomorrow and again next week, and again next month, for goodness sake.


Photo credit: https://offertedalweb.io/offerta/amuchina/ , https://notizie.tiscali.it/cronaca/articoli/cornavirus-contagi-salgono/ , sent to us by a friend