Personal experience: how to live in a country with a coronavirus epidemic

While I am writing this material, more than 20 thousand people in Italy are sick with coronavirus. I deliberately do not use the words "infected" or "infected": they create the feeling of a plague epidemic. And now I want to whip up the atmosphere the least: there are enough empty streets, people who keep away from each other, the growing number of patients and the constant sound of ambulance sirens from the street.

I live in a town north of Milan, in the Lombardy region. He was hardest hit by the virus. At the beginning of the quarantine, the Italians joked: “Our grandparents were told to go to war, we were told to sit at home on the couch. Maybe we can handle it! But time goes by, and there are fewer reasons for laughter.

I decided to share what is happening in Italy so that our readers in Russia are not afraid of quarantine - life does not end there. But at the same time, we understood why it is so important to do everything in our power to stop the spread of the virus.

How it all began and what does it have to do with non-corrugated "feathers"

The fact that the coronavirus got to Italy was talked about on February 21. On that day, I flew to Palermo for the weekend, and at some point at the airport, urgent news was broadcast on all screens: in the south of Milan, several people were diagnosed with COVID-19. This did not scare me much: okay, the Chinese virus from Wuhan, only a few people got sick, it is unlikely that he will stay with us for a long time.

But in the couple of days when I ate pistachio ice cream in Sicily, a dozen cases turned into a hundred. The first thing I saw on my return to Milan was a banner warning of the outbreak of the coronavirus and people in protective suits measuring the temperature of those arriving at the airport.

The cities where the sick people lived were quarantined. This also did not seem to be something intimidating. "Quarantine" is a familiar word for a Russian, they were a hundred times in my school.

I miss a life without limits. When you could safely shop, and not catch yourself by the hand if you itched your nose in a supermarket (you cannot touch your face in public places: this is how the virus enters the body). I miss the times when my hands weren't eaten away by antibacterial agents. When we calmly trained and went with friends to a pizzeria. Everyone in Italy now yearns for something of their own.

Bella Shahmirza Journalist, translator.

I miss my job. The market sank heavily, because of the epidemic, a large project with a TV channel broke down for me. Now I am happy with every little translation. There is still not enough freedom. I like to know that I can fly to Paris tomorrow morning. And now you won't even be able to leave the house and take your favorite bubble tea, go to Chinatown and eat noodles, go to a museum for a cool exhibition.

Yuri Monzani Football coach.

I miss traveling. For the past 10 years, I have been leaving every month to train children in different countries of the world. Trips to China, Colombia and Russia have already been disrupted this year. We have stopped all business trips since December last year. And I also cannot fully exercise: cycling and swimming are now prohibited. Considering I'm training for the Iron Man Triathlon, this can be a big challenge.

Mara Arena Student.

I want to live again without worrying about my dad every minute. At his age, such a virus can be very dangerous, so I do not even let him go to the supermarket for groceries. Most of all, there are not enough meetings with people dear to me: boyfriend, friends, brother and nephews. Opportunities at any time to leave the house and go wherever they look. Be indoors and not think that there may be a virus on any surface.

Federico Elli Tax consultant, partner in a financial company.

I still go to the office, and I have several times more work. Now I help companies get help from the state. I let go of all the employees: we have a lot of people of age. But I can't completely abandon our clients at such a moment. When I sit alone in a 500 square meter office and hear only the sounds of my keyboard, my heart is very heavy. I miss the usual noise, conversations, laughter of colleagues.

Gabriele Raspelli Football coach.

I really miss my girlfriend and the football team. For many years, Sunday has been for me the day my team plays. Now all the work is worth it, we cannot do anything. I miss my usual routine: office, lunch with a girl, soccer field. I don't think I've spent so much time at home in my life.

How to live on and not lose heart

In spite of everything, the quarantine united the Italians. Every day at 12:00, people go out onto the balcony and give a round of applause to all the doctors who work many shifts without interruption. And at 18:00 they turn on the anthem of Italy and sing songs. The DJs I know brought their equipment out onto the balcony and lit the whole area. Their neighbors danced on balconies and broadcast on Instagram. My husband and I also take a guitar and sing a song that he composed specifically for the quarantine to the tune of the famous l'Italiano Vero. All this can be found on the hashtag #iorestoacasa, which is currently bombing in Italy - "I stay at home."

Friends from Russia and other countries write to me every day. Some questions upset me a lot: they show how much unverified information is in the news. Has the Pope recovered from the coronavirus? No, he was not sick with them: my father's test for COVID-19 turned out to be negative. This news is a fake of Papa Francesco non ha il coronavirus. Is it true that Italian hospitals do not have enough hands and equipment, so only the young are saved, and the old are deliberately left to die? No, Ognuno faccia la sua parte fin da ora Non possiamo arrivare al punto di scegliere chi ha piu aspettativa di vita was told that we must stay at home and not spread the virus to avoid such a situation.

Today is March 17, and the fear that doctors will have to choose who to help and who not is still only a concern.

Hospitals are being expanded and equipped. A friend of mine was scheduled to undergo elective eye surgery, but the ophthalmology clinic rescheduled his appointment because private hospitals were ordered to keep all surgical wards vacant in case there were no more hospital beds.

In Milan, Coronavirus is almost completed, lavori in tempi record per il nuovo reparto del San Raffaele grazie alla campagna di Chiara Ferragni e Fedez, the construction of a new intensive care unit, for which the Italian rapper Fedez and fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni raised 4 million euros. Giorgio Armani donated Giorgio Armani dona 1, 25 milioni di euro agli ospedali per l'emergenza coronavirus 1, 25 million euros for the needs of hospitals. On March 13, Coronavirus, medici cinesi da Wuhan a Roma flew from China to Rome: "Separate subito i positivi dagli altri", a delegation of doctors specializing in the treatment of COVID-19.

The government has launched Coronavirus, bozza decreto da oltre 20 mld: 100 euro di premio a chi lavora in sede, misure per famiglie e sanità social assistance program for those who cannot earn this month. Compensation is paid 50% of the salary to parents whose children stayed at home, 500 euros - to private entrepreneurs who could not work, 60% of the rent compensation to companies that were forced to close.

Yesterday, March 16, the trend in the increase in the number of infected people finally began to Covid-19: i casi in Italia alle ore 18 del 16 marzo decreased: fewer people fell ill than the day before. Half of those who have confirmed COVID-19 can carry the disease at home. Intensive care is needed for 1,851 people. These are the first results of the quarantine, and even they are encouraging.

Therefore, we just have to sit at home, hope that the noise of the sirens outside the window will soon subside, cook, read, broadcast on Instagram and put the second most popular hashtag in Italy - #andratuttobene - “everything will be fine”.