Yet another record-breaking day two days ago in Italy: 793 dead in a day. Yesterday the number went down to 651. Of course it is too early to put these number in context.
I keep posting these hoping that they could help people in other countries to see how the virus is impacting our lives - and hopefully get at least an advanced warning.
Milan deployed the Army in the streets and the checks are even more frequent. I was stopped for the first time - twice - during a morning trip to the Supermarket.
In the Italian region of Marche the superintendent mobilised the Coastguard to guarantee the lockdown even if you live near the seaside, and implemented some more stringent quarantine measures. He then took his bicycle to return home - and was promptly stopped by the Police. I guess that his measures work (he was let go after a check).
Other regions are considering to deploy the Coastguard, but nothing official as of now. Meanwhile, in Puglia they started
using drones to check for crowds.
You cannot anymore run around in public spaces (including parks and even if alone). It is allowed to run or walk around your house or in your inner park, if you have one - a good thing for elderly people who need their daily walk.
If you own a second house, maybe at the seaside, you cannot move from the one you are currently living in to the other. About 10,000 people were sent back in the Emilia Romagna region alone.
The number of people denounced for violating the quarantine climbed to 82,041 - 1,943 of these for lying in their auto-certification (a criminal offence).
The President of the Industrialists' Guild (Confindustria), Enrico Boccia, said that this is a "war economy" and that we are losing 100 billion Euro every month.
Here in Lombardy sick people die alone. Often their families/loved ones are quarantined. In other cases they simply cannot enter the maximum biosafety area where the infected are held. You die, you are put in a coffin and stacked with other coffins, a priest says some words and then the Army trucks bring you to the crematorium.
But there are also heartwarming news. Overwhelmed, the Civil Protection (the Italian FEMA) put out an "open call" for 300 new medical personnel. In one day over 7,000 people with various degrees of medical knowledge (from ex-nurses to retired doctors) answered the call (including an ex-doctor who is now a priest). This is amazing, but remember that these volunteers now need to be equipped (amid the shortages) and trained. Is was still an amazing thing.
After the doctors sent by China, yesterday 52 between doctors and nurses arrived in Italy from Cuba. Germany, in turn, is ready to take in a surplus of sick from Lombardy - either suffering by Coronavirus or other aliments.
Another bit of good news: if you (auto-certify) that you are not sick, you can call a dentist. They are available only for urgent needs (bad teeth and abscesses) but it is better than nothing (I still shudder at the thought).
Both the small town of Bugliano (near Bergamo) and... er... BELGIUM banned "
orgies, gangbangs and all non-essential sexual activities with 3 people even in indoor areas." Please, define "essential" in the current context...
National Weekly Lottery has been suspended.
Mayors from all parts of Italy are starting to show signs of
a mayor nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile, a new phenomenon is arising: Social Justice Warriors. They are self-nominated "Judge Dredd"s who take on their shoulders the duty of maintaining the quarantine. It could be a good thing. Sadly, the stupidity of these people shows in various forms.
Most of them take pictures of people in the streets and post these on social media - with names and other personal info if they know them. This is, of course,
very illegal and you can be sued for doing it - not to mention the various reasons as why people can be legally outside. In a case, the very fury of hell was rained on Twitter against a picture of two people holding hands. It turned out that one of them was a disabled person.
More disquieting are the signs put outside apartment blocks warning "anyone not belonging to the block" that they will be denounced and/or suffer dire consequences. A curios thing that these signs have in common is the disregard for basic grammar rules.
Yesterday evening I was returning from my daughter's flat when a car passed me. There was a lone woman at the wheel, and she stopped at a streetlight (an eerie action: it was the only car around). All of sudden the unusually quiet streets of Milan were lacerated by the screeching of another woman! "STAY INSIDE YOU KILLER!! YOU ARE KILLING PEOPLE BY GOING AROUND LIKE THAT!!" It was so out of the blue that I almost jumped out of my skin. The woman in the car pulled down the window and counter-screeched "I'M A NURSE, YOU MORON!! MOVE YOUR ASS AND GO HELP SOMEONE!! HOPE THAT YOU WILL NOT FIND YOURSELF UNDER MY CARE!!"
This actually went on for half a minute, then the woman in the car just roared away, like a jet launched by a carrier's catapult. I found myself ready to - I'm not making this up - impersonate a plainclothes officer had the woman at the window started screaming at me. But she just slammed the window shut.
I wonder what the consequences will be should these accidents start to happen in a country with laxer gun laws than Italy.
I'm suffering from... too much stress, worries and isolation, I guess. It happens in the morning: while I'm in that span of time between sleep and wakefulness I feel an inexplicable sense of anguish. When I get up it goes away. I now sleep more and, when needed, I go to the Supermarket at 8:30 AM. It is the opportunity to, at least, see some people.
I have a friend from way back who is now a bigwig doctor specialised in sleep disorders. I called him and he is, of course, overwhelmed on another front: people who simply cannot sleep anymore. The risk for some of them is to abuse their sleeping aids (pills, drops...) and become addicted. We chatted briefly and he made two interesting points:
The first is not as obvious as it would seem. True, the virus, plus social isolation, plus confinement (and, maybe, loved ones being sick) equals inescapable anxiety. But there is another factor: during the quarantine
we think too much. I agreed: I think about staying safe. I think about my younger daughter who lives in London, now jobless, sharing a flat with a friend (a father worried because his daughter hasn't a boyfriend - what is the World coming to?) And I wonder about my family back in Calabria and my business. And I can't do
anything about these worries - being confined for most of the day in an hotel room.
My "Doctor Sleep" friend a few years ago authored a paper about how the new forms of digital interaction (smartphones "in primis") damage our sleep habits. Today he told me "Buy a Playstation". I guess that Steam will do.
The second point that he made blindsided me. If, for any reason, you need to take a lot of medications, it is possible that your doctor will prescribe their doses according to your daily routine. But these days daily routines are going down the drain. He is revising all of his patients medical planning, while co-ordinating with some other doctors. This is another way for this emergency to damage us in ways not easy to anticipate.
Tonight I dreamt I was trying to learn Advanced Squad Leader. Now even dreams are anguishing...
We all live one day at the time. Planning ahead is impossible: the situation changes
hourly. As usual, listen to official sources, use your head and stay safe.
"Yes darling, I served in the Navy for eight years. I was a cook..."
"Oh dad... so you were a God-damned cook?"
(My 10 years old daughter after watching "The Hunt for Red October")
