Hey guys, I am back again. I thought I would share what’s going on here in Milan as well as the Lombardy region in regards to the COVID-19 or also known as the corona virus. I’ll start by saying that I am ok and everyone I know is just fine at the moment. No need to worry or panic, all is well. However, with that said I am going to share what’s happening and my thoughts about it. Sidenote: I am not a doctor or a virus experiment these are my opinions and thoughts and what I have learned so far, however the situation keeps changing so please don’t take my word as final.
So here’s what happened so far. The virus was found in an Italian man who lives outside of Milan and from there chaos ensued. There is still no patient zero at the moment but this man is the first Italian who was identified with the virus. The town where it was found and surrounding towns have been shut down. I am talking nobody in and nobody out. However, this quarantine of the (10?) towns did not happen until Saturday so with people moving and ya know living, the virus has spread as well as panic. The biggest infected area, right now, is Lombardy. There are over 400 people infected and there have been 11 deaths in Italy. This number increase of course every day and there are still a lot of people being tested for the virus. Schools in the region have been closed until March 2, as well as museums. Shopping centers are to close this weekend and all public events especially for Carnivale have been cancelled. This is all to contain the spread of the virus of course. The virus is said to spread from people to people through touch and bodily fluids, so basically if you cough and you don’t cover it and it gets on someone and that person touches their mouth, nose or eyes, boom they have it now. Basic cold and flu stuff here people. The ministry of health has released “rules” to follow to help keep people healthy. The rules I feel like should have maybe come out earlier or have been taught I don’t know in general? They are basic cold and flu rules. For example, wash your hands for at least 60 seconds and wash often. Cough and sneeze in your elbow or a tissue and throw it away. Stay home if you are sick and call the emergency number if you have the current virus symptoms. Keep space between you and those who cough or sneeze. Do not wear a mask unless you are infected (!!!!). I think those are the important ones. If you want or need to know more please check out the ministry of health or even the world health organization, all of their info is updated.
So with everything going on and the current rules being set, Italy is trying to reduce crowds which has kind of led to a self-quarantine here in Milan. I am not working this week due to school closures but Milan isn’t really letting me do anything else either. Museums? Nope they are closed so can’t see any of the new exhibitions. Travel? No the rest of Italy doesn’t want us. They are asking people who are traveling from this area to self-quarantine for at least 2 weeks. Bars and restaurants? They were told to close by 6 but with the current economic situation that has been caused by this virus bars can stay open but they can only offer table service. That means no standing around drinking with your buddies you have to be seated. Which once again really limits where you can go. A lot of stores are closing early and this weekend no shopping centers will be open. Public transport? It is still going but if the Italy government is telling the people to avoid crowds guess what people aren’t using? Public transport! Although I will not lie I have used it this week and it was lovely because it was so empty. I know we are not in quarantine but at the same time there’s not a whole lot of options to keep the people from self-quarantining at this point.
Since I have shared what’s happened and what’s currently happening I want share some of my thoughts on the situation. Once again this is my personal opinion and I am not an expert so please read this with an open mind (as one should read anything really). I will start by saying I am not really worried about this current virus. I have asthma which is one of the things they said could be affected and could cause more severe symptoms but at the same time that goes for flu and colds as well which I also have to be careful of, so at this point I am just making sure I have the medicine I need as well as vitamins and practicing good hygiene. Since I am not really worried about the actual virus, I am a worried about the unknown. A lot of things seem to be unclear at the moment especially regarding closures. There are a lot of thoughts in my mind regarding travel and what’s to happen in the future. To me this makes sense though. Everything is up in the air as far as the future goes. Italy is trying their best to contain it but for how long and how they will do it are worries of mine, at least for now. The panic surrounding the actual virus is a little much but I guess it’s not a surprise to me. Italians are well known hypochondriacs so their reactions to the virus are not surprising. Hand sanitizer is gone and being sold for ridiculous prices. People are wearing face masks! Even after being told you don’t need to unless they are the ones who are sick, but I guess that doesn’t matter. Watching the panic and seeing bare grocery stores is weird because it feels like people are preparing for something you don’t know about but at the same time we need to keep our feet on the ground.
I know it’s probably not the best post or the most heartwarming but at the same time I don’t want to discourage people from traveling to Italy. I would advise maybe not coming to Milan and this region but if you can go somewhere else in Italy, I recommend that you do. If you had plans to fly or come to Milan, I would try to change those. I only recommend that because things have really slowed down here especially trains and well life. You also run the risk of being quarantined because people are on high alert. However, the rest of Italy seems to be functioning like normal. So go to Rome, Naples, heck you can even go more south and see a place that you wouldn’t normally visit. All in all, the virus is here. Don’t panic. Don’t cancel your trip. Live your life just adapt to what’s happening and follow basic cold and flu season guidelines. Life goes on and we need to live it.
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and if you want a laugh and can understand Italian check out:
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