Italy in the time of quarantine. Rome, 2020… An ancient city captured by a dark silence. There is no trace of human as if heard the war sirens and escaped to the shelters, on the streets and squares of historical Rome. It is up to the pigeons who ask why we got out on the street and the pigeons running around and enjoying the crumbs.
The water flowing from the cute fountains of the city, nasones (big nose), and the footsteps in the sampietrinos (paving stones) are echoing. The city, which is almost an open-air museum, is full of eyes when I cannot see the tourist crowd, the traffic, the buzz of the Vespas, the delicious food that is patiently anticipated for the taste of fresh tastes.
“I saw World War II, but it’s as if the war now exists… It’s a disaster!”
“Only when the sirens were stolen, people were entering the bunkers. Otherwise, everyone was waving their hands and going to work, going to work, and schools were open. So even then the city was not like a deserted desert, life was going on as if there was no war. As if there was war now, it was “It’s not time,” says Maurizio Bey, 86, comparing World War II and Quarantine Rome when he was 11 years old. But now? In an epidemic of plague, as if everyone died in a sudden, look, there is no one in the streets! The city is dead, the ghost has become,” he says.
Neither of us can find a word for a while, finally he breaks the long silence and says, “This is a disaster. It was the first time I experienced such a thing until this age.” He says he realized it was too late. “If all these measures were taken before, we would not be like this, but it is not late. We have no other choice, we will squeeze our teeth. Now I can only go out for my basic needs,” she says, while waiting for a pension in front of the post office.
Public transportation services are also provided throughout the country, where basic public service organizations such as post offices and pharmacies, banks, supermarkets, greengrocers and butchers are open. However, all other commercial establishments, especially restaurants and cafes, were closed for two weeks.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte explained the final decree, which includes these measures, which will take effect until March 25, “We will only be able to know if the virus has stopped spreading in two weeks. I want to tighten your teeth a little more.”
The schools, which were closed only in the north for two weeks, were holidayed all over the country until 15 March and finally until 3 April. “Last sacrifice” was the headline of Il Fatto Quotidiano, who put the entire country under the lockdown on Wednesday evening, saying that in the country that was gradually made to make sacrifices during the epidemic, it could not be further.
The government decree brought with it a restriction on travel and curfew. Unless there is an urgency regarding work or health, and there is no exchange of basic food or medicine, those who go out on the streets can be caught in police control. We go out onto the street by filling out forms that state our valid justification. We journalists are allowed because of their right to give and receive news.
We cannot approach each other more than 1 meter distance, which is considered safe. More than 20 people are not taken to the markets, and two to the pharmacies at the same time, we ride the lifts one by one.
In Italy, which is fighting the hardest after China, the number of dead increased to 266 thousand and the number of cases increased to 17 thousand 660 (as of March 13).
According to a survey; 89 percent of the people support the government’s measures. The opposition, which at first strongly opposed the restriction of the measures to the north, ended its criticism as the practice spread throughout the country.
Snack with video conferencing, pilates courses, window choir
“We love to communicate by touching each other, especially in Rome, it is sad and strange that we are afraid of approaching each other now. It is as if we are on a planet that we have never experienced before and we do not know,” explains the situation of 26-year-old Maria Elena Roscioli.
The young woman, who is the daughter of one of the most famous bakeries in Rome, near Campo dei Fiori Square, where I saw only the scavengers, and the birds that had caught up in the morning from the market, said, “We have become unable to move, but we do what the authorities say to us without rebellion.”
Reminding that it is not possible to go out in the evenings, Maria Elena said, “We also organize the aperitif meetings with my friends every night by sipping our drinks. She continues her pilates lessons with her method. ”
“We comply with the precautions brought to us with great devotion,” said Maria Elena, amazed by the discipline of the Italians against the epidemic.
Mayor Raggi also thanked the Romans who showed great success in following the measure not to leave home. Many museums and cinemas opened their works to the internet. Indeed, cinemas, theaters, concert halls and museums We had forgotten to have fun because of the coronavirus epidemic for days, yesterday we had the hope of returning to life with the message of a friend in our Whatsapp group: “I propose a Saturday dance party.”
I was surprised first; discos are closed, we reduced home visits to zero. When I read more, I make sense: “I will send you a list of songs, we will dance with video conferencing.”
I get goosebumps on a television show in the same minutes when I hear all of this epidemic not only the temporary habits, but also the predictions of a macro change for the future.
I know that the Italians will not let their Mediterranean be covered. That they show solidarity in times of crisis and motivate each other with their efforts to stand up is an indication of this. For example, volunteers shop for the elderly, who cannot leave their homes for fear of the virus. Giovanni, the doorman of the apartment I live in, is now devoted exclusively to the shopping of our elderly neighbors.
“We would have been shocked if they had taken the measures at once; the prime minister has been transparent from the beginning.”
Dorina, 58, who runs a newspaper dealer, says she was in great anxiety and fear at first. For this reason, he underlines that it is very important for government officials to give confidence to the public during these crisis periods, “Prime Minister Conte gave this exam very well. He is the right person for us at the time, because he has been transparent since the beginning.”
Thinking that the measures might be late, Dorina said, “But perhaps they did well, because it would have been difficult for us to change their lifestyle in one day. They had accustomed to the exercise. Otherwise we were shocked that the same day we had received the news that the whole country was quarantined, all schools and workplaces were closed. “he adds.
Italy did not hesitate to share in which part of the country the first case was and the patient’s information. In the first cases of death, the names were pronounced, but with the rise to hundreds of people, only the data is shared by region. Canadian journalist Megan Williams, who has been living in Italy for years, said, “Did Italy conduct this process transparently?” The question was, “At first, communication was very slow and intermittent. Because of the different opinions of different experts. Now, the Prime Minister and the head of the civil defense agency manage to give a clear and one-to-one message. I trust all the data shared by the Italians because they are more transparent than other countries.” “I think.”
Why so many cases broke out in Italy?
Professor of the Ministry of Health of Italy and employee of the World Health Organization, speaking to DW. Dr. Walter Ricciardi ties the spread of the epidemic in the town of Codogno, where the first case was seen on February 21, when a 38-year-old citizen went to the hospital, thinking that he had the flu, and waving his hand. He does not agree with the claims that Italy is late in the measures, Riccardi.
Massimo Galli, Professor of Infectious Diseases from the Sacco Hospital of Milan, also underlines the importance of the Italian example for less affected countries. Turkey emerged as yet few cases where countries are immediately quarantined everyone taking the contact of that person, in front of the spread of whether the test adds that it can greatly exceeded.
Morena, who is 59 years old, strongly opposes those who say “Like normal flu, she should take it lightly” when I call her for what the people carrying this virus think.
“I was feeling tired as if I had been working at the mine for 20 hours,” Morena, who was now in quarantine in her home near Milan since the virus was discovered on February 24, said “she was not able to breathe like normal flu.” “There are a lot of young people who are not taken seriously, however. There are many young people in intensive care units right now. It is very bad to be isolated from life.”
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