Sanctuary for the Masses

With the spread of Covid-19 hitting Italy harder than any other nation outside Asia, here is my take on what it has been like to be living in the great nation at a time when the state and its people have gradually taken reactionary measures to prevent its spread.

When this whole Coronavirus thing kicked off in Europe, I like most had the mentality that it would all pass over relatively quickly, without it affecting my front door. I'm quite cynical when it comes to trusting the news, and largely felt that many reports both here in Italy and in the UK were quite far-fetched, sometimes misguided. Indeed, Italian schools closed down three weeks ago and we were all given the standard precautionary advice about washing your hands and catching your sneeze. But never did I feel that this would be anything more than a slight halt to business as usual.

A big turning point for me, certainly the time when the severity of the situation really hit home, was on Saturday night. I was enjoying an evening of aperitivo and pizza with my Italian friends in Sanremo city center; an area located in the North of Italy, where many towns and cities were on lock-down in the preceding week. The topic of conversation almost exclusively focused on the virus. Alan, a radiologist, was following the developments closely on his phone. It was the night where Prime Minister Conte addressed the nation and confirmed a complete lock-down of certain areas in the northern and central parts of Italy. These 'red zones' prohibited entry and exit, except for exemplary reasons. Alan was particularly concerned, given that his girlfriend had returned to her family home in Cremona that weekend - an area that was now in lockdown until the 3rd April.

Intent on making the most of the night ahead, we headed to a restaurant to get some pizza. Maybe it was in the excitement of the developments, but I foolishly ordered a bianchi pizza, which is a big blooper if you like a tomato base to your pizza. My self-sympathy was short lived as I turned to Alan and asked how he would deal with not seeing his girlfriend for four weeks. Out of respect for him and his partner, I won't repeat what was said! But during this time, if we are not laughing and joking, we'd probably be crying.

After finishing the night in our favorite Moroccan bar, I drove my motor scooter home with the taste of Maghrebi mint tea in my mouth, and my thoughts turned to how the developments would affect my place of work. I work for a language company that recruits native English teachers and actors to facilitate projects in schools across Italy. The closure of the schools has had a massive affect on the company since we cannot fulfill our bookings whilst schools are closed; a firsthand outlook on how significant this situation has been and will be on the Italian economy.

As the lockdowns worsened, a decision was made at the start of the week to send our teachers and actors back home to the UK, after previously facilitating their safe arrival from towns across Italy, back to Sanremo to sit out the storm in the comfort of each others company. But that storm has turned into a hurricane, and its spreading throughout Europe.

I found it incredible that many of our actors and teachers were able to fly from Nice to UK airports without any extra measures in place to ensure that they were not carrying or showing signs of the virus. Some were asked to self-isolate, whilst others simply walked through unchecked. But I am glad they have all got home okay, and wish them all the best during their self-isolation period. It is a boat which I now find myself in, after Mr. Conte revealed on Wednesday evening that the whole of Italy is on lockdown. The 'red-zone' has now turned into a 'red state', with restaurants, bars, social spaces and non-essential businesses closed down.

Earlier on in the week, I had joked how anti-climatic the lockdown measures had been. I was still working, I could still go to the cafe, and I had been socialising with friends. This was no lockdown. I wanted a proper lockdown with proper military men. You know, apocalyptic style. In contrast, the Italians were still chatting in bars, eating their Sicilian pastries and drinking their espresso.

But that was Tuesday, it is now Friday - and boy has it changed. In keeping with the movie of which I have quoted above, the last 24 hours have been nothing short of legendary. With Mr Conte's orders on Wednesday night still taking effect, my office remained open on Thursday. When the schools all started closing three weeks ago, we came up with the ingenious plan to bring the schools to the kids, by producing a live stream English show on Youtube. With thousands of viewers and new subscribers, we have managed to salvage something during this difficult period. But Thursday was our final show, and in keeping with the drama of the week, we went down on our swords. With about ten minutes of the Live show left to perform, we got a knock on the office door from the police. There ensued some moments of pure commotion, confusion, spur of the moment acting, and quite honestly the euphoria that I had craved all week. This was the proper blockbuster lockdown I was after!

Jokes aside, the current situation we are in is no laughing matter, and we all respect the guidelines issued by the Italian authorities. Italy is now on lockdown for at least two weeks. Police are monitoring the streets in every town, a document must be carried whenever we leave the house, and everything is closed apart from supermarkets, pharmacies and hospitals. The only sanctuary for all, is home.

Day 1 and my attention has turned to deciding how to make the most of the situation, with all this "free" time. For me, its a chance to get creative. With the help of stocks of Italian wine and coffee in the house, I am going to attempt to write a novel, with a general plot already outlined in my mind. More importantly though, the guidance issued by the Italian authorities does allow one to run, albeit not in large groups. Whilst most of my running friends live in the next town, I do have one close by that I have been able to run with. His name is Denis, and he is an ultra fell running national champion. The guidance states that all runners should stay at least one meter apart. This shouldn't be difficult for me to comply with since I struggle at the best of times to keep with Denis on our runs together!

A big shout-out to all those nurses, doctors and medical professionals, like my friend Alan (main picture), that are working overtime in an effort to save lives and prevent the spread. And to quote a trending Italian phrase - 'andra tutto bene' - everything will be alright.