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This was written by an American ex-pat living in Italy
Posted by a friend on FB...
This was written by an American ex-pat living in Italy 🇮🇹 🇮🇹 🇮🇹
"Many people are asking how we are able to have concerts and other public events in Italy, in Summer 2020. We took drastic measures; this is not a full list but here is what I can remember:
-We were in quarantine Posteour homes for about 10 weeks. This was enforced by the federal government countrywide, even though some regions had very few cases of COVID.
-During the lockdown, only one person per family was allowed out at a time.
-When that one person went out, they had to carry with them an “autodichiarazione”. It was a form that needed to be filled out every time you went out, dated and signed. You had to explain who you are, where you live and where you reside, where you were going and why you were going out. The only reasons permitted were food shopping, medical necessity, or if you were an essential worker.
-You were not permitted to leave your town borders except under extreme circumstances that had to be documented.
-You could be stopped by the police at any time and required to show the autodichiarazione (and other documents). Matt was stopped twice, in our town of around 8000 people.
-If you didn’t meet the criteria, or were caught outside your town borders, there were fines up to €3000 and potential jail time.
-Masks were required in all spaces, indoors and out, during the lockdown. When you went in to a store, you had to use hand sanitizer, then put on gloves afterward. (It took a long time to master putting fruit and veg into a thin plastic bag while wearing thin plastic gloves!)
-People gathering outdoors in groups, even just two people chatting in the square and at a 2-meter distance, were broken up by carbinieri immediately. Socializing was not permitted more than a passing hello.
-There was also a curfew, basically sunrise to sunset.
-People with dogs were permitted to walk them, but only within 200 meters of their home.
-It's worth noting that in this lockdown time, we were reading articles by doctors in China (where they experienced their surge of Covid several weeks earlier) who were saying that Italy wasn’t being nearly strict enough.
-During the lockdown, the government released daily figures telling us, by region (and town) how many were diagnosed with COVID, how many hospitalized, how many died, how many recovered. It was all very transparent and new figures were released every day. Tests were free, of course - the entire medical system here is not-for-profit.
-All these restrictions were for the general, "not-infected" population. If someone was diagnosed positive for Covid, a whole new and much more strict set of rules were imposed, including complete isolation quarantine, special handling of trash, delivery of food and other necessities, and other regulated details. Local businesses that previously didn’t deliver went out of their way to provide contact-less (and usually free) delivery to the town and surrounding areas, to help people stay home. For example, we had tomato seedlings and gelato delivered to us. (The gelato was a gift from a friend - thanks, you-know-who-you-are!)
-There were significant government programs to help people manage. Rent/mortgage suspensions, suspension of electric and utility bills, grants for businesses, grants for food shopping.
-After about 10 weeks, they relaxed the rules somewhat, based on the fact that we flattened the infamous “curve” to the point that hospitals were not overwhelmed.
-For a week or two after that, we were allowed to travel within our region (analogous to states in the USA), but absolutely not to cross “state" borders.
-After the initial reopening, when numbers didn’t skyrocket, they allowed us to travel freely within the country.
-In the meantime, rules have been relaxed a bit. For example, masks are no longer required outdoors unless safe distances can not be maintained. But many people wear them outdoors anyway. Masks are required in all indoor spaces and everyone adheres to it. I have not seen a single meltdown or tantrum over it. Everybody just does it and gets on with their business.
An analogy that occurred to me is this: “Reopening" is like running a marathon. No one can run a marathon without preparing. Trying to run one without preparing would be disastrous. Italy (and other countries who followed the advice of health professionals and other scientists) went through a financially and psychologically devastating period of time, in order to get to the “new normal” that we are experiencing now.
Integral to the relative success of Italy’s pandemic response (and that of some other European countries who have done well) is a nationwide public health care system. No one is reluctant to go to the doctor if they’re not feeling well for fear of incurring a huge bank-breaking bill.
When Italy started the lockdown, it didn’t really have a model to show how long it would last or what an end would look like. That was very intimidating for us because we didn't know when we might be able to leave our homes... 10 weeks? 10 months?
But if you are in the US reading this, you do have a model....Italy's. These measures were tremendously expensive and frustrating, but they saved lives and they worked. They sound extreme, because they are; but a pandemic is extreme, and requires a proportional response."
-During the lockdown, only one person per family was allowed out at a time.
-When that one person went out, they had to carry with them an “autodichiarazione”. It was a form that needed to be filled out every time you went out, dated and signed. You had to explain who you are, where you live and where you reside, where you were going and why you were going out. The only reasons permitted were food shopping, medical necessity, or if you were an essential worker.
-You were not permitted to leave your town borders except under extreme circumstances that had to be documented.
-You could be stopped by the police at any time and required to show the autodichiarazione (and other documents). Matt was stopped twice, in our town of around 8000 people.
-If you didn’t meet the criteria, or were caught outside your town borders, there were fines up to €3000 and potential jail time.
-Masks were required in all spaces, indoors and out, during the lockdown. When you went in to a store, you had to use hand sanitizer, then put on gloves afterward. (It took a long time to master putting fruit and veg into a thin plastic bag while wearing thin plastic gloves!)
-People gathering outdoors in groups, even just two people chatting in the square and at a 2-meter distance, were broken up by carbinieri immediately. Socializing was not permitted more than a passing hello.
-There was also a curfew, basically sunrise to sunset.
-People with dogs were permitted to walk them, but only within 200 meters of their home.
-It's worth noting that in this lockdown time, we were reading articles by doctors in China (where they experienced their surge of Covid several weeks earlier) who were saying that Italy wasn’t being nearly strict enough.
-During the lockdown, the government released daily figures telling us, by region (and town) how many were diagnosed with COVID, how many hospitalized, how many died, how many recovered. It was all very transparent and new figures were released every day. Tests were free, of course - the entire medical system here is not-for-profit.
-All these restrictions were for the general, "not-infected" population. If someone was diagnosed positive for Covid, a whole new and much more strict set of rules were imposed, including complete isolation quarantine, special handling of trash, delivery of food and other necessities, and other regulated details. Local businesses that previously didn’t deliver went out of their way to provide contact-less (and usually free) delivery to the town and surrounding areas, to help people stay home. For example, we had tomato seedlings and gelato delivered to us. (The gelato was a gift from a friend - thanks, you-know-who-you-are!)
-There were significant government programs to help people manage. Rent/mortgage suspensions, suspension of electric and utility bills, grants for businesses, grants for food shopping.
-After about 10 weeks, they relaxed the rules somewhat, based on the fact that we flattened the infamous “curve” to the point that hospitals were not overwhelmed.
-For a week or two after that, we were allowed to travel within our region (analogous to states in the USA), but absolutely not to cross “state" borders.
-After the initial reopening, when numbers didn’t skyrocket, they allowed us to travel freely within the country.
-In the meantime, rules have been relaxed a bit. For example, masks are no longer required outdoors unless safe distances can not be maintained. But many people wear them outdoors anyway. Masks are required in all indoor spaces and everyone adheres to it. I have not seen a single meltdown or tantrum over it. Everybody just does it and gets on with their business.
An analogy that occurred to me is this: “Reopening" is like running a marathon. No one can run a marathon without preparing. Trying to run one without preparing would be disastrous. Italy (and other countries who followed the advice of health professionals and other scientists) went through a financially and psychologically devastating period of time, in order to get to the “new normal” that we are experiencing now.
Integral to the relative success of Italy’s pandemic response (and that of some other European countries who have done well) is a nationwide public health care system. No one is reluctant to go to the doctor if they’re not feeling well for fear of incurring a huge bank-breaking bill.
When Italy started the lockdown, it didn’t really have a model to show how long it would last or what an end would look like. That was very intimidating for us because we didn't know when we might be able to leave our homes... 10 weeks? 10 months?
But if you are in the US reading this, you do have a model....Italy's. These measures were tremendously expensive and frustrating, but they saved lives and they worked. They sound extreme, because they are; but a pandemic is extreme, and requires a proportional response."
22 replies
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non-maskers yelling "Give me freedumb or give me Death"
