I am quarantined in Northern Italy. This is how it looks

I am quarantined in Northern Italy. This is how it looks

We offer you a translation of a piece of writing by Greg Hopkins, a resident of Northern Italy. Written on March 9th.

This morning I visited a coffee house by the house. I even have long made friends with barista Stefano. Making me macchiato-lungo, Stefano said he had sad news.

His father died, who had been ill recently. The funeral was canceled thanks to restrictions introduced within the region.

Stefano put the finished coffee on the counter. In Italian coffee houses, it's customary to drink a small cup of espresso without leaving the bar. I took a few of sips and continued the conversation.

Some guy with a telephone pressed to his ear - apparently an employee of the establishment - came up and knocked sharply on the bar counter. I broke the rule.

From now on, visitors should sit at the tables. This order is aimed toward ensuring a distance of 1 meter between people.

Stefano said that if the police travel by and sees me drinking coffee at the counter, they will be fined several thousand euros. He also told me that official cars drive through the streets and thru megaphones urge everyone to remain home.

When I was close to leave, he said:

- the entire problem is in our heads. These restrictions are terrible.

I visited the doctor from the cafe to urge a prescription. The doctor came to me during a Big Blue mask. within the pharmacy, all employees were also masked.

Many enterprises within the city are closed. Butcher shops were open, as were grocery stores. Restaurants are ordered to shut within the evenings.

Greg hopkins
All events and gatherings, including weddings, funerals and sports matches, are canceled. Dance studios, cinemas, gyms, galleries, schools, libraries and lots of other places where people gathered in close proximity to every other are closed - and therefore the owners of those places are sitting idle.

Yesterday, during a local supermarket, a person in uniform guarded the turntables at the doorway . He made sure that each one buyers took only large carts, not small ones. He explained that enormous trolleys help maintain the specified distance.

At the doorway there have been racks with plastic gloves and an antiseptic for the hands. the primary panic that raged fortnight ago had already passed. All the shelves within the store were full, and therefore the number of consumers seemed normal to me.

A few days ago, during a square in Chiavenna, alittle town north folks , people greeted with bowing and folded hands rather than kisses and handshakes. there have been many of us on the streets, and therefore the atmosphere seemed almost festive.
However, the consequences of quarantine are felt.
Many people were left without a livelihood. I met a lady teaching a language course. Her work ceased thanks to restrictions, and she or he doesn't have financial security.

A widespread consequence of restrictions is that the cancellation of trips. My wife and that i refused four. Given what's happening, most the cash was returned to us for rail and air tickets, also as hotels. most of our friends abandoned their planned trips.

This is bad news for carriers. an enormous influx of tourists in Italy usually begins on Easter, but this year it's unlikely that something will compute . together with other troubles - the winter arrive Venice and therefore the chronically high percentage - all this promises Italy a deep recession, which can be felt in other countries.

At 65, I belong to the category of anziano, that is, the elderly. I’m alleged to sit reception , if necessary, going only to the shop or to the doctor. I don't skills much this is often being monitored. I even have a car that needs repair, and a few other urgent business.

If the weather permits, I decide to a minimum of ride a motorcycle . it's possible that they're going to stop me and deployed back.
The psychological effect of this is often unpleasant. Since I personally don't know one infected person and haven't heard from anyone about sick acquaintances, there's a dissonance. it's difficult to know whether things is basically emergency. Most of the measures taken seem frankly idiotic.

But the reports from the front are terrible. Dr. Daniel Machcini, a resuscitation specialist in Bergamo (a city northeast of Milan), describes the shocking scenes of labor during a hospital where exhausted staff are fighting for the patients' lives with all their might.

At such a time, most of all we lack calm, reasonable and reliable statesmen, whose words are often trusted. Officials and journalists have squandered charitable trust thanks to numerous forgery, deceit, shortsightedness, secrecy and corruption. This created fertile ground for ominous rumors and suspicions.

Suddenly, it’s all just exercises to show people to obey orders - a pilot program on large-scale management of individuals , hiding behind a virus? or even this is often really an emergency, but its origins are hidden from us? Perhaps draconian measures in Italy are literally pure heroism?
Be that because it may, i'm glad that i'm safe and sleep in healthy conditions. We just got an outsized batch of organic fruits and vegetables, so during a way I even have everything.

I sincerely feel for those that were left without a livelihood and were seriously ill thanks to the virus. Whatever discomfort this quarantine brings us, this is often a mere trifle compared to their suffering.

March 10, 2020 Patch:

Quarantine was introduced throughout the town . Now you'll not leave the house without a special pass, which is named autocertificazione per gli spostamenti. this is often the shape you would like to fill out, indicating the rationale for the exit. Police stop and interrogate people on the road .