Month: March 2020

Today German state finance minister killed himself as he had become increasingly worried about how to deal with coronavirus impact.

Spanish healthworkers have taken up meditation to cope with stress.

The NYT has a piece about the ethical choices doctors face in a context of scarce resources.

The Harvard Business Review has a great article telling other countries about lessons learned from the Italian experience. Highly recommended reading. https://hbr.org/2020/03/lessons-from-italys-response-to-coronavirus

Someone I know with coronavirus is in ICU and his relatives are seriously distressed.

Enough or should I go on?

Yes, I woke up a bit late because of Daylight Saving Time. And there was the treadmill menacingly looking at me. I put on my trainers and stuff, and started like a hamster in a cage. TV today started with the German invasion of Belgium and France and Hitler the great strategist eventually turning into Hitler the crap strategist, Hitler the Parkinson patient, Hitler the end. I am almost sure I would have rather watched a coronavirus briefing or chatshow, but I was busy moving and concentrating on posture, so did not change channel.

Last night I did the ironing, so today it was the turn of me cleaning the first floor of the house. I am trying very hard to keep a routine and not to become sloppy. That is what I dread most, as I am here on my own and it would be really easy to postpone and postpone. And I don’t want that. I want to feel like I am in control as usual. So, not really what I was looking forward to, but I dusted and hoovered the two bedrooms and cleaned the bathroom. Tomorrow if I feel in the mood I might do my hair. Wise of me to order what I needed on Amazon before it restricted its business only to essential goods to make its warehouse staff safe. Guys, outside Italy, think fast what you need other than food and medicines for an extended lockdown for yourselves or your kids, as Amazon is bound to follow the same strategy everywhere else.

It was sunny, so I went out in the garden to monitor the progress of spring. There are a few buds on the rose bushes, and some of the irises are getting ready to bloom too. The lawn is overgrown. It really should be mowed soon for the first time in the year. It hasn’t rained significantly in weeks, so soon would be ideal. But the gardener is not allowed to work. Not essential. Not an emergency. It is really stupid as he would not get in touch with anyone in the garden. He would just get on with his work as usual. But rules are rules, even if really stupid.

Shall I tell you about something that aggravated me? Italy is turning anti German, because the Germans together with the Dutch, etc., voted against the Eurobonds the Italian goverment asked for. So out of the woodwork have come all sorts of unpleasant anti-Merkel videos, jokes, and Italian flag decorated statements of how good the Italians are and how proud we should be of being Italian. I received videos and memes reminding people that the Germans are responsible fo the holocaust, that they had their debt condoned in order to pay for the unification costs, that they imposed the bad trojka on the Greeks, that they killed Greek children, etc. All this aggravated me, especially as some of this messages came from people close to me. I rebelled. Explicitly.

I was going to wrap this up as it was late, but had a message from a friend and former boss, Ricardo, from Valladolid in Mexico. A really nice guy. Guaranteed to cheer me up any time. And so we went for a tour of the old city and its bright colours at sunset, up to the monastery of San Bernardino of Siena. Guys, tell me whatever you like, but this lockdown is really a cool experience. I am seeing more of my friends around the world now than I ever did. Maybe because we all have more time on our hands, maybe because we all feel closer than ever, who knows, but whatever it is, it is splendid.

This is probably the hardest evidence so far in this blog of ups and downs in lockdown. See how I started. See how I ended. Good night to all.

Hi everybody! I am really sorry I let so much time pass since my last post, but my solitude is so busy that I have not found the time, or better was exhausted at the end of the day and collapsed in front of a movie rather than sit and write. I should get more disciplined and write in the morning, but there is fierce competition from the treadmill which is now placed bang in front of my bed and close to the small tv set, so that I do not have any excuse in the morning.

This morning I learned about the minoic civilisation and what the archeologists understood from the 2004 tsunami experience as regards the connection between Atlantis and Santorini. Then we moved on to dangerous explosions and what chemicals used in refineries can do to you if they explode. In particular I now know everything you do not want to know about hydrogen fluoride and what it does to living things. So at the end of my 70 minute gym session I decided one should live far away from the sea (that overrated sea view…) and steer very clear of refineries. I will update you on which other locations to avoid in the next few days.

On the first day of my blog I wrote something about ‘maybe I’ll be here so long that I will be able to see my clematis bloom’. Let me introduce you to my favourite clematis, first one to show off.

Yesterday my morning went on a complex engineering project which I managed to solve. The floor in front of my front door is slightly raised and the front door was opening only by one third because of a draft excluder that was screwed onto the door too low. I removed the anti-draft brush which was screwed on at the bottom of the door. Sawed it in two. Screwed one half back to the section that wasn’t affected by the raised floor. Then repaired an old Xmas themed textile draft excluder, attached three straps to it and screwed it to the door instead of the old brush which was blocking the door. Mission accomplished. I managed to have all my tools, sewing kit, and various bits and bobs out on the floor, but emerged triumphant from this experience. My friend Bruz, master of DIY, would be proud of me. Although I will need to cover this with some different material, once they let us all out in the open.

In the afternoon I baked my unforgettable Francesca’s cake, which leaves everybody speechless (in a good sense), for my elderly neighbours. Maybe it doesn’t look that great but I guarantee it is one of those you always want one more slice of. So now I have converted even one neighbour who started this lockdown declaring that she didnt’t like desserts.

Then, I had some technical advice sessions with my neighbours who had forgotten their email addresses but knew their passwords. Very entertaining. And then I had video calls with friends, really lovely. One had just bought a farm on the eastern shore of the US, on a peninsula. She failed to grasp when she bought it that she was buying a hunting lodge, and she is vegetarian and animal lover. So she is now planning to repopulate her many acres with all sorts of animals. I am amused by all this mostly because I am sure she does not know what she is getting into, but also because she is one of the few persons I know who understands that our future is bound to be away from big cities and back into rural areas.

The reason why I think so is not just because after lockdown we will see a huge move of jobs away from the expensive cities both through relocation to less expensive sites and through increased use of remote working, but also because we will all be poorer and life in the countryside is much more affordable than life in the city (and has fewer expensive temptations too). Having land of one’s own can also be a way to become relatively more independent than others, by cultivating one’s own fruit and vegeetables, raising chickens, etc. (I do not want to venture into cows business because cows scare me and apparently their output is bad for the environment.) So thumbs up to my friend Elizabeth and her non hunting lodge.

The second video call was also a lot of fun. A couple of good friends called from their home in Iowa. This call had been scheduled (unlike the previous one, where my friend complained I did not give her warning, otherwise she would have put make up on). We were all prepared. They were nicely dressed and combed, me less so, but we all were having our aperitivo together. Guys, this really works. I don’t know whether this is due to the alcohol, or thanks to whatsapp video technology, or our smartphones with cameras everywhere, but it really feels as if we are in the same room. I miss their hugs though. These two are great huggers. I hope soon… Anyway, what was fun is that they took me for an art tour of their beautiful home. They have a fantastic art collection, Bonnard, Rembrandt, Dali prints and drawings and some exciting sculptures by Nigel Hall. All very attractive works of art, except for one depicting a cow (here we go again). They also showed me their outdoors, a large garden with a view of the river. Next week I think we will do art in other rooms, to keep some suspense on. It was lovely.

Tonight I have two more video calls booked. So exciting.

Today after exercising I decided to dress a bit better than usual. I realised I was getting sloppier and did not like that, so I found an old black Zara t-shirt with rhinestones on the white collar. The neighbours noticed. I think they were about to ask me where I was going to go, but then refrained from it. Even lovely Ugo their vegetarian dog liked me wearing better clothes and promptly sat comfortably on my lap leaving all sort of dog hair on it… I know, my hair is horrible, but I couldnt be bother today, so I left it a bit wild.

Oh yeah, news of BoJo been tested positive landed on my iphone. Let us not all be mean at once please. There is one video though that I would like to share with you. Please watch in silence.

“I shook hands with Coronavirus patients. I shook hands with everybody. I will go on shaking hands with everybody”.

This video didn’t age well.
pic.twitter.com/86Gu9mBWWM

— giulio (@ildelfinogiulio) March 27, 2020

After all the drama of the weekend, Prime Minister middle of the night conference (on Facebook) to tell us the lockdown would become more strict, i.e. no solitary walks in the fields for me, I decided it would be a good idea to go shopping for food, just in case Ciuseppi (that is our PM as Donald theDonald calls him) wakes up tomorrow to shut food stores down too. And so I took off for my weely leisurely adventure at the supermarket.

I was wearing a strange face mask, disposable gloves (those left by my cleaner), carrying my own shopping bags, and a piece of paper with a self declaration of identity and that I am leaving the house out of necessity (this form has already changed three times in the past two weeks, making me feel sorry for all those people without a printer). Plus my shopping list, which I had taken two days to prepare, trying very hard to think of all the things, aside from food I might need. Here is your warrior, in action

Have you finally stopped laughing, climbed back from the floor and recomposed yourselves? Right. Next piece of information. In this small albeit charming village where I am based, there is only one supermarket, and a pretty good one normally, except it does not have a fish counter (for fresh fish you need to drive circa 20km, and now this is not allowed alas). I am especially fond of it because every now and then it sells large and beautiful orchids at Eur 4 each.. so my house is normally well stocked with amazing flowers. (Well now I am stuck with forsythia until the roses bloom). Normally this place is crowded and the shelves are well stocked with a large variety of food and non food (I was going to say non essential argh) items.

I think that during the weekend everyone made a long shopping list like me, as when I arrived there there was a long queue outside. They only let few people in at any time. I waited 35 minutes. Fortunately it was sunny and not so cold. Entertainment provided by the lady in front of me who was shouting abuse at those whom she thought were jumping the queue. She then turned to me and told me she loathed our government in particular for having chosen a Big Brother contender as communications manager. Our Alastair Campbell is Mr Casalino, who advises the PM to communicate to the nation the progressive loss of their rights from Facebook, at night.

Once inside, not many people, and all who were there, both supermarket staff and clients, wearing face mask and disposable gloves. I spent almost one hour there. Many things were not available, the most annoying of which was fruit other than kiwis, apples and oranges. So I bought tons of those. I was also doing some food shopping for the elderly neighbours so I ended up with similar amount of shopping bags top those I was used to whilst living in London (family of four plus au pair and perennial flow of guests). Shopping like there was no tomorrow is the name of the game.

I suspect I will wait at least two weeks before I return there.

I started exercising seriously after noticing that inaction is really not good for the body. I now have my threadmill in front of the tv set, an old and small one, so I cannot for the sake of God link it to Netflix or Premium. I am happy to tell you I now know how the ancient Greeks used to play James Bond underwater. Fascinating. Apparently they used a sack made of animal gut skin filled with air which they were inhaling from and exhaling into, so they could swim underwater all armed and clothed to reach their destination in incognito. When I finished with the exercise they were moving on to the Roman catapult. Sadly for you, I switched the tv off.

Last night Boris introduced lockdown in the UK. I was expecting it, as I don’t think any national health service can survive the number of patients this virus is producing so fast. So , dear old Boris went from the stoical attitude of the first weeks (‘many more families are going to lose loved ones’) to more aggressive measures (‘stay home to stay safe’). Having been in lockdown myself for a couple of weeks, and having seen our government move from ‘it’s just a flu’, ‘there is no chance the virus will come to Italy from China’, to increasingly more restrictive measures, and increasingly heavier punishment for those who do not respect the new rules, I was trying to figure how Boris was going to enforce the limits he set.

So, first thing I noticed is that he was a bit vague. All those who can work from remote should do so, the rest should go to work… what does it mean really when it is not generally up to the employee to make that decision. I was expecting him to have studied the Italian experience. Only last night the cabinet was in session, for the third day in a row, trying to decide what is an essential business (to stay open) and what is not (shut down). Well in my view Italy and the UK should only shut down those places of work where the employer cannot guarantee safety for his employees (i.e. minimum distance, face masks, disposable gloves). The rest should stay open making maximum use of remote working (the famous ‘smart’ working of the Italians!). Italy I am afraid has missed the train. Maybe there is still time for Boris to avoid doing harakiri with the whole economy.

Second, he mentioned that everyone can go out for a walk or run alone or with other members of the household once a day. How on earth is the police going to ascertain that this is not the third or fourth little walk one is taking? In Italy we use forms to declare who we are, where we live, that we havent tested positive and what are we doing outdoors. Despite the form about 50,000 have been fined so far. BJ has not mentioned forms or God forbid, GPS tracing systems. He must rely a lot on citizen’s sense of duty, compliance, but with a country so divided by the recent Brexit saga if I were him I wouldn’t count on it. And proof of this were the photos of crowded London tube trains this morning.

It’s late now and I need to eat something. So I am going to say goodbye and goodnight xxx

Grrrr Lockdown has become more stringent. For me that means no walks in the fields behind the house despite the fact that there is no one else in the fields. So I go multiple times a day to the rubbish and recycling point because I think that is the only outdoor activity allowed.

I can of course borrow the neighbour’s dog and take a leisurely walk around the block! Apparently if you, while driving to the supermarket for grocery shopping, cross the limit between two towns you will have your car impounded. But as the car pounds are shut for coronavirus the car will be impounded in your own property with the police coming to check every now and then.

Right. Last night there was also a ‘Commander Alpha’ venting his frustrations on the web with full balaklava on (wonder whether that is as effective as a surgical face mask). That really reminded me of a call to arms for the scope of a coup d’etat. I don’t really understand how press agencies here lend themselves to propagating this kind of news. There you go. It was late enough and with the Prime Minister talk to the nation from his Facebook account to tell us to be patient and that all no essential activity will be shut down, and with the army already on the streets, as you can imagine I did not get much sleep. That is I did not get to sleep until I was knackered about 5-5.30 then I slept a few hours and when I woke up I fely guilty as I thought the neighbours realised I slept in and I really don’t want them to think I am a lazybones.

Whatever. Today it was also mother’s day in the country where my children live.

Yep I took the rubbish out a few times. I also trimmed the grass around the flowerbeds. Cooked Ate. Cleaned.

I spoke to a couple of very good friends, Sheila and David. I realised while I was talking to them that I was talking very fast as if we would be about to be cut off any minute.They were more relaxed than me. Maybe because where they are the virus or the lockdown have not yet hit them badly. Maybe because I am a nervous wreck and they are not.

I cooked a shitty pizza, and ate it.

That’s all. Goodnight

Spring has arrived and everything is blooming. I did something sightly dangerous yesterday to get some fresh flowers for the house. I ventured on a sliding a slippery slope along the canal that runs along the garden wall. There was a forsythia and some other tree with nice pink flowers, and emerged like the Botticelli Venus covered in petals, hahaha, with t-shirt and leggings though.

Yes and the swimming pool will open on 25 April. Water will be cold but I will be swimming hurray! These things fill me with joy, and, looking back, that was the normality last year.

We really need to start thinking what is the new normal, how things will be and should be when we get out of here. I was talking with two dear American friends last night. The discussion went on schools and universities, on how quickly the switch to e-learning is happening. Basically like with online shopping, it was never a matter of if but a matter of when. I was fortunate enough to spend many years in the European country that was the first to embrace all things starting with e-. My children’s homes have few books and no cds or dvds. They belong to the streaming generation. I moved onto streaming in the second half of my life and still like to surround me with the physical possession of objects that give me pleasure (and no, it aint vibrators). But apart from that I buy so much from Amazon that I was recently offered a small business account.

I can see a future where most learning will be carried out online. The virus is simply accelerating a structural change that was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe we don’t like the idea now, but it will make our lives much easier. I know, I know, social contact, networking, bla bla bla. But let’s think for a moment. The people I talk to most right now are a bunch of twitter friends. They will never know me as well as my best friends, but still you can get most of what you need in terms of networking through online channels. Yesterday I even had aperitivo with my brother (it was his name day), mother ad sister in law through whatsapp video call. It was a very good thing. It totally felt as if we were in the same room.

My greatest concern is that we do not have the clarity of vision in my country that will allow for the change to occur speedily and without hiccups. This is a game of first come first served. Amazon is Amazon because Bezos had the vision, and was the first, the road opener. The real stakes will no longer be in trade deals. Globalisation. Climate change. So yesterday. Change is the name of the game and not planning for it, not having the vision for how things to come need to be shaped will make this a thirld world country.

Jotting down ideas. A friend with the virus was just venting on twitter that she is very worried, not for her health or for being locked in her home for an extended time, but because she does’t know what she will find out there once the lockdown will be over. She is worried that the structure of the country will not withstand the shock. Ok, she is not very seriously ill, but in her family there is currently three members infected, and she is worried about the country. That should tell us something. Need to change fast and adapt. But we have a country in which there are people in power who think that GDP grows during hot weather because if we turn the AC on, consume more energy and therefore, magic, more GDP. Dire straits.

On a different topic. I am sure you know this is the era of what we in Italy call the tuttologi: those who become experts in a new subject as soon as a new problem appears. Like the novel engineers when the Genova bridge collapsed, the drug experts when the debate about cannabis surfaced, economists when the spread widened, virologists during the anti-vax movement, and so on. People used to go down to the bar (dayime occupation unlike with going to the pubs or wine bars which is mostly an evening thing) and vent their theories, now they go on twitter and Facebook from the comfort of their couch and debate like there is no tomorrow. Right now we have a plethora of virologists and statisticians dominating the social media. I call them the necrophiles because every day they discuss the shape of the curve of deaths with gusto. (Mind you today’s 627 paints a pretty scary picture even without a curve)

As if this weren’t enough we also have the fake news. I am sure you are all aware. Let me tell you the funniest before going to have my dinner. A couple of days ago the plumber visited to fix a broken tap. All face mask and hygienising gel, while he was doing his job he asked me if it were true that we are being invaded by the Amricans, and told me it would be a terrible thing, what terrible times we are living and that he and his family were scared. I couldn’t decide if this was a joke (and I was waiting for the follow up) or a serious question. As there was no follow up, I asked on which information he based this fear. He told me that there were NATO movements in Italy and that meant we were being invaded. I kept my cool and told him that NATO is us so we can’t invade ourselves. I thought of telling him that the US right now is a reluctant NATO member, but then I decided against as I thought it too complex to explain to the plumber. So I promised I would find some information to dispel his doubts… and I did. Boy, what one needs to do to get good service around here!

Going to have dinner now. Bye everybody and thank you for reading me.

Hello there, it’s you again!

I want to thank you all my friends for visiting me here. The notion alone makes me feel a lot less lonely. Please feel free to leave comments, pictures, memes, whatever cheerful or meaningful considering the situation. We would probably all feel more connected. Or don’t, just read and then write privately or call. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable.

Comfortable for me is to try and have no anxiety and avoid routine. Sadly last night it took me four hours to fall asleep. I was concentrating very hard on something. I shouldn’t say but there you go. How much did I lose since the beginning? Well I think, now that I peeped into my accounts, enough to buy a lovely flat in London. Who cares, fate will deal with things. and what comes down will eventually come back up. But last night the internet connection was gone and I could not check, and so I started having visions of poor me homeless like the Little Match Girl. Oh boy, that was a real fight. I think there were three of us in bed. Hans Christian Andersen, the positive happy go lucky old me (e.g. what comes down will eventually go up, don’t move and enjoy the sun), and the other me who wanted everybody else to shut up so I could sleep. Bloody internet. I still have ADSL conection here. The (high speed?) fiber is just outside the gate, but the telecom company says they haven’t yet had time to prepare a rental contract with the company that brought the fibre here. Italy for you. Responsible for my anxiety attack.

Pity because I thought I would sleep like a log. I had gone walking in the fields to avoid police, carabinieri, army and, as we say here, sailcaz. It had been a nice walk, slightly spoiled by a twitter conversation I had found myself entangled with on the topic of personal data usage to identify contacts with infected. Now that I think about it let me tell you from my non-expert point of view. There is a current trend among Italian politicians to aggravate the loss of personal liberties with the desire to infringe GDPR. The current message to steer public opinion in their favour is as follows. If Korea, China, Hong Kong etc have successfuly curbed the spread of the virus by using personal data collected through smartphones and GPS systems (no way they can isolate the effect of that particular measure as it was introduced with several others which we havent yet in Italy), why shouldnt we do the same?

Well, my answer is, because of GDPR! What Korea has done is to publish everybody’s past and current whereabouts together with information about whoever else they crossed paths with. That is frankly intolerable given that we are currently staying home except for very serious reasons or for food shopping and going to doctors or chemist. So please fine those who infringe restrictions but do not advocate the right to snoop into my private life without prior adequate legislation and setting up of institutions to ensure my data would only be utilised for tracing my contacts in the context of coronavirus scare, but not for other purposes, and definitely not sold or ‘passed on’ to private companies. And the enabling legislation should be clearly time framed within definite and measurable benchmarks. I never cease to remind people that the’temporary legislation’ that was passed in Italy to help with the search for the kidnapped politician Aldo Moro is still in place more than 40 years later. Unfortunately almost all Italian politicians aim for an ever larger control of the state over the individual. Likewise for the individual’s wealth. But that’s another story.

Yep, this thing bugs me a lot. I was a teenager (you, bad guys trying to figurehow old I am) during the years when the Radical Party was fighting to grant respect for human rights. Yep, we got right to divorce in 1974 and right to (but difficult to implement) have an abortion. Every now and then I stop to think that my kids take all this for granted. I guess we took for granted the right to vote for women which our parents weren’t born with but had to fight for. Basically I am part of a generation that followed the trend to ensure that human rights were granted, respected, protected. My children are now part of an era in which their right are diminished or threatened. I brought them up well and I assume they are aware and express their position adequately and maybe more than that. But I am on twitter and I see the sheep, the faithful, the idiots. OMG do I fear what is coming.

So yes my walk was a little bit spoiled by a young ‘faithful’ who was ready to give up his personal data just because a charming politicians said so with his bovine expression.

But not spoiled to the point that I could miss this sunset.

And so I woke up today, with the sound of Pavarotti, the best ever recording of Nessun Dorma, Lincoln Centre 1979. Listen to it, close your eyes, feel the pathos. Dilegua oh notte, Tramontate stelle, Tramontate stelle, All’alba vincero’, Vincero’, Vincero’.

It erupted in my heart, my head, my soul. I was crying profusely, unable, unwanting to do anything. Just paralysed by the beauty of music, the portentuous lyrics, the clarity of the message.

It took me sometime to recompose myself and get going. And get going included reading the news, staying abreast of developments, catching up with friends, loved ones. And that included good and bad things, happy and sad, worries and relief. This is a constant helter skelter. It takes a skilled navigator to fend off the obstacles which abound on everyday path.

I remember the Twin Towers. Don’t we all. That was a landmark, not just in the way our lives are shaped and carried out, but especially in the way we feel about others and about our finite lives. Dare I say we became better persons as a consequence? I certainly feel I did. More compassionate, more caring, way more selfless. Did we learn to reposition our priorities? I think so. That was 2001. And sadly we had several follow up episodes to refresh our memory in the years since.

However, and I am no sociologist, I guess human survival instinct pushed us to put those memories in a corner, maybe get a bit tougher in our hearts to avoid too much suffering and fear. We all think, well ok, no one around me suffered, or business as usual, we won’t let terrrorists change our way of life, or let’s not let this upset us and let us instead concentrate on work, beauty, family, life, because those are the things that matter.

But apart from the initial tsunami in our lives that September 11 brought, I do not remember anything like the mood swings and turmoil that the virus (or is that the solitude that comes from lockdown) brings.

Anyway, the hours passed, I read, I cooked, I ate, I spoke with friends (thank you whatsapp), I tidied up, did some exercise. This afternoon I was listening to some light music and this song came on

There had been other songs before, beautiful, maybe a bit sad, romantic. Nothing happened. This one had me in a flood of tears. Some words. E’ la voglia di sognare che ci fa dimenticare una vita fatta solo di giornate ad aspettare, It is the wish to dream that makes us forget a life made only of days waiting.

Is that what is going to be like? It’s been only a week, and I am so very privileged, yet so emotionally upset. Big house, garden, nice neighbours. What the hell is going on with the rest of the country? The vast majority is locked in small flats, with family members they aren’t used spending so much time with, with very limited access to the outdoors (people are being fined heavily for breaking the rules). How will everybody cope? they keep on telling us we haven’t reached the peak yet. My guess is that we’ll be in lockdown for another three months. How will we come out of this and what type of persons will we be at the end? Will we this time keep the lessons learned with us without resorting to cold BAU (business as usual)?

I don’t know how, but yes I do find the strength to hope that everything will be alright. People have been hanging sheets from their windows with the writing Tutto andra bene on. We all want to believe everything will be alright although we know that not everyone will be alright. I am telling others so. But every now and then my heart misses a beat. For now though, that is me and Pavarotti.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0EDODbQP_wbBLNjc4JVhYjkTw#Cereta

Hello everybody. Today I was planning to talk only about the UK strategy and how that upsets me, but I am going to start with something else.

A friend of mine just got her Covid-19 test results. She is positive. No other symptom except for a mild fever. Problem is her dad and her elderly aunt also have it. There is no mother. There is one sister, a doctor, very busy helping others in hospital. Aunt, who clearly is a survivor, has no symptom at all. Father in hospital with respirator. I am reassured by the fact that she is a very capable person and will make it physically. Even if she stays like this she will have another two weeks in isolation. Isolation and worry for her relatives will be hard on her. Her friends, me included, will be very supportive but from a distance. As I mentioned yesterday the circle is closing tighter.

Someone wrote today that it is possible to do multiple video calls on whatsapp. While you are in a video call with someone you just need to touch the screen and add someone else. Up to four people. That will be fun at aperitivo time. Can’t wait to get out of this SOLITUDE. I am sure my American friends will not have time zone problems.

Let’s go down to differences between UK strategy and the WHO/ rest of the world. This topic interest me particularly because A) I am a naturalised Brit and lived 25 years of my very short 😉 life in the UK and I have seen a better UK than the one that can be observed at the moment and so wish the morons would disappear, B) my children live there and the policy decisions of BloJo have a heavy influence on their well being. I think we can all agree these are sufficient reasons for me to venture into this territory.

Boris told the country that many more families would lose their loved ones before their time. Certainly he was being realistic. But definitely it looks like he is making sure this statement will hold true in the future by adopting a strategy that is in direct contrast with the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and with that adopted in all other countries which were hit so far. So, here in Italy we have complete lockdown, all shops are shut except for food shops, chemists, newsagents and petrol stations. (Yes i know also tobacconists, but that is another story, how can you let people smoke during a virus pandemic which impairs the respiratory capacity!). All work that can be carried out from remote is being carried out from remote. All workplaces where an infected person worked have been shut for quarantine. (Imagine with more than 21000 infected how many factories/offices are still open). No travel allowed except for very serious reasons (apparently death of a relative is not within the reasons deemed serious). Yes it is true we got to this point possibly too late, as we had one whole month warning from China, which no one took seriously, and why? because China is far? Because the Chinese got it from a bat, and yes they do have live animals for sale in food markets, but so what? once the rabbit is out of the hat (do excuse the pun), you need to think remedies, not line of causation. That will be good for an academic paper, surely not to save people.

Ok, so we have these very tough restrictions and army on the streets for enforcement (lovely) and one more anti costitutional measure being contemplated. They are planning to use big data and make it public so that we will all be able to check movements of infected people and see whether we crossed paths in the past weeks with any of the currently infected. Boy, do I see a divorce wave coming!

Other countries are doing the same, they start with shutting down schools, universities, work remotely (hey in Italy it’s called smart working, did you know that?), travel bans, etc. Soon others will be in lockdown too.

But Boris decided no! we know better, we have the best epidemiology modellers in the world (did you know that? no, neither did I) and we know that we must get lost of people infected to create herd immunity. Now, I am not an epidemiologist, so do not take my word, and also I have made clear that I do have a personal interest in this topic, but please do take some time to read this thread. What it says is that authorities should concentrate on i) reducing peak demand for healthcare services, ii) reducing deaths. Herd immunity is a by product, a side effect. No one in his right mind would wish for 80% of his population to be infected so he can get herd immunity. Do you know mortality rate as of today in Italy is nearing 7%????

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238821515526897664.html

I assume that Boris is moved by two main motives. First to unite Britons along that thick stoicism that has roots in the WWII heavy bombing of London and subsequent Londoners response, and that got re-awakened at every trerrorist attack in recent years. Second, to prove that outside the EU we can be different and better and we’ll prove it. Ha! A huge gamble and as with Brexit he won’t pay out of his pocket if things go wrong. The nation will.

But this is a virus, not a war, nor terrorism. This response is totally inappropriate, the price to pay if things go wrong is humongous, and this time is not money or jobs, it is lives. People what are you waiting for? This person is not fit to be in charge of your lives.

If I were the big boss of the entire world, I would put the whole world in simultaneous lockdown, thats the only way to beat the virus.

And on this note of wisdom and common sense, I am saying goodnight to you all. Tonight I am preparing Peruvian chicken soup. Lots of love to everybody.

this so far is a really bad day and I am feeling quite down and depressed.

Issue n 1. The government decided to use the army to help enforce the lockdown restrictions. This means wherever you go you will find police, carabinieri and army officers to question anything you do including a walk around the block. I don’t know about you but to me army in the streets with police powers brings back memories which are not so pleasant. Anyone old enough to remember Chile, for example? And Chile had a Prime Minister far superior to the current Italian PM. Not counting on the rest of the Italian government. The head of the Democratic Party is now in quarantine as he discovered a couple of days ago that he contracted the virus. The head of the other coalition party is more or less useless, his only previous professional experience being that of a steward in the Naples football stadium. I remember Chile. And the army on the streets scares me. Especially now that the popular consensus is that it is ok and necessary to enforce the lockdown measures.

Issue n 2. please read the attached thread. Then draw your considerations https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1237142891077697538.html

Issue n 3. I have children in the UK. Please watch the following keeping in mind that the UK is now the only country in the world not adhering to the WHO suggested guidelines. https://twitter.com/skynews/status/1238238415163924482?s=21

Issue n 4. Public parks are now shut in Milan and if you are found more than one block away from your home you are fined and will eventually go to prison.

I think it is enough for today. So far I managed to shower, cook and eat one meal. I might go to the rubbish bins later. I feel very very disturbed by all of the above.

Here we go.

Day started well, on a lazy note. Reading in bed is a real luxury which I think is a big bonus of life in lockdown on my own. Whoah! I can do what I like and have breakfast when I want.

Today I socialised a bit. I had two friends who work in an office nearby for lunch. They came in smelling of disinfectant, totally sanitised like a portaloo toilet. They did not try to kiss or touch, very demure attitude, sat at opposite ends of very large dining table to respect (and exceed) the government prescribed safety distance of one meter. They are both very worried by the situation. completely different attitude from the jolly usual mood they had three weeks ago when I saw them last. They both have young children, working wives and elderly relatives. Schools have been shut for a while and they do not want to have either cleaners or baby sitters in the house for fear of contagion. They cannot ask their parents to provide childcare as elderly people are the ones most at risk ffrom coronavirus and need to be isolated, especially from the germ carrying grandchildren. As a result my friends take turns with their wives to look after their kids. Work suffers, needless to say. Kids are bored. Very. Nothing is open. You are allowed to go for a walk around the block, but not go for a run or cycle or play football. Swimming pools and gyms are shut, and so are libraries and everything else except for food shops, chemists, newsagents, tobacconists and laundry shops. One of them lives in Brescia, currently the virus epicentre. Very worried. The other friend lives with his family just across the border between Lombardia (the region I am in) and Veneto (the region next door). So he drives here through country lanes to avoid checkpoints which would delay him into work.

We normally have so many different topics of conversation, but guess what we talked about today? The big V. And it was such a good thing that I was busy with cooking, eating and clearing up. Because guess what? As I later discovered the stock market dropped another 17% today. Apparently Madame Lagarde had forgotten to call SuperMario this morning to figure the right set of policies for coronavirus time. Or maybe she did but she misplaced the post-it with the key words to reassure the markets, and here we go: worst ever press conference from the ECB head. Not much fun at all.

So to try and keep busy and not think, I decided to bake my unforgettable cake. But I was missing a couple of ingredients so I decided to venture to the local supermarket wrapped in my big scarf twice over my mouth and nose and wearing sunglasses. Last time I went shopping it was Sunday morning when it was all relatively normal. At least compared to today. Empty car park. No female shoppers. Just male shoppers with surgical face masks (where do they get them?) and disposable gloves. Also donning the same attire were all the supermarket staff. And to make it weirder and weirder there was the recorded message from our Prime Minister in a loop about keeping a distance from others, stay home, wash our hands, blah blah blah. A scene straight out of a bad science fiction movie. No, maybe a movie from the old Soviet Union days, except that here the supermarket shelves were very well stocked.

Sad sad sad. I managed to bake my cake and respond to the usual calls and messages of friends and family checking on me. And that is when you happen to realise that the circle is getting narrower and narrower. You start getting to hear more frequently of people you know who are having a case in the family or who are suddenly getting sick themselves. Someone told me we will all get it. I just so do not want to get it. I had the flu once in my life and that was bad enough for me, I don’t think I want to experience coronavirus, so please spare me.

I had dinner with my neighbours and brought them the cake which they loved. We managed to avoid talking about the stock market (that’s the new ‘don’t mention the war’ thing) and almost avoided talking about the virus, concentrating on bitching savagely about other neighbours. Except when at the very end of dinner someone let out that in the local supermarket four (four!!!) cashiers have it and are now in quarantene in their homes.

I must have it then. I am sure I must have caught it…. and on this note I will try to sleep tonight.