Italy
struggled to convince citizens of coronavirus crisis. What can Europe learn?
Country’s
experience could offer lesson to European neighbours following a similar
trajectory
Angela
Giuffrida Rome correspondent
Mon 23 Mar
2020 07.10 GMTFirst published on Mon 23 Mar 2020 03.00 GMT
Ordinarily,
having an aperitivo in Venice’s St Mark’s Square would cost a small fortune.
Not on 3 March, when bar owners offered a free drink for each one purchased in
an attempt to attract custom as the city emptied out amid Italy’s developing
coronavirus outbreak. The offer was intended to last a month.
In Rome,
restaurant touts jokingly invited people to try a “carbonaravirus” as the
tourists left in the capital went along with the relaxed vibe, choosing to
carry on with their holiday rather than go home. That was during the first week
of March. Business owners could hardly be blamed for worrying about the impact
of coronavirus on their livelihoods, especially when leaders were giving
confusing messages.
On 27
February, four days after 11 towns in the north were quarantined and when 17
people had died of the virus and 650 were infected, Nicola Zingaretti, the
leader of the governing Democratic party, travelled to Milan, whose wider
Lombardy region is the centre of the outbreak, for an aperitif with a group of
students. “We must not change our habits,” he wrote in a post on social media.
“Our economy is stronger than fear: let’s go out for an aperitivo, a coffee or
to eat a pizza.”
On the same
day, Beppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, shared a video with the slogan “Milan does
not stop.” The clip contained images of people hugging each other, eating in
restaurants, walking in parks and waiting at train stations. Nine days after
his trip to the city, by which time the death toll had risen to 233 and
confirmed cases 5,883, Zingaretti announced he was suffering from the virus.
As Boris
Johnson gave his most explicit warning yet on Sunday that the UK might face an
Italian-style lockdown, Italy’s experience – particularly the way people went
about their business in the early days of the crisis –could serve as a warning
to other European countries that appear to be following a similar infection
trajectory.
Giuseppe
Pantaleo, a social psychologist at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in
Milan, said: “At the beginning people were not really believing what was
happening so politicians like Zingaretti and others just wanted to reassure the
population. He went to Milan to demonstrate some forms of social behaviour were
still safe and that the government was working towards a solution and so on,
but he of course underestimated the risk.”
Medics also
clashed, with some taking the virus seriously and others writing it off as only
a bit more serious than flu.
As the
virus spread, the public turned to humour, with memes and videos shared across
social media, including one of an Italian grandmother giving advice about
hand-washing. Another featured mobsters hatching a plan to smuggle Amuchina,
the Italian-made hand sanitiser enjoying a boom in sales, instead of cocaine.
“Either
within their social groups or on social media, people reacted with jokes and
irony,” said Pantaleo. “Laughing is a very common reaction that people have
when they’re confronted with the idea of death. But of course, in those early
days nobody saw it as a serious possibility.”
Kissing on
the cheek and hugging were banned, and social distancing advised. However, in
another foreshadowing of the UK’s situation, people were still out and about,
frequenting bars, restaurants, parks and beaches. With no school or university,
teenagers and students took the opportunity to socialise more with friends.
For the
most part, life carried on as normal until an abrupt change on 8 March, when
deaths from Covid-19 leapt by more than 50%. The prime minister, Giuseppe
Conte, ordered the whole of Lombardy and 14 other provinces across other badly
affected northern regions to be quarantined. The news of the quarantine was
leaked to the Italian press a few hours before an official announcement,
provoking thousands of people of southern origin to flee home from the north.
A national
lockdown came on 10 March but the measures only really started to hit home a
couple of days later, when bars, restaurants and other non-essential shops were
closed across the country. Conte’s tone became clearer and more direct but also
more humbling. He thanked Italians for the “great sacrifices” they were making
for the common good, while repeating his call for people to stay at home.
Sara
Raginelli, a psychologist in Ancona, in the Marche region, said: “The moment
the politics changed and started to speak in a more clear and direct way,
people’s behaviour also changed and people developed more of an attitude of
awareness. “The moment Italians were told to stay at home and rigid containment
measures were introduced, the majority of the population complied.”
Still, as
the lockdown set in, over the course of a week police charged more than 40,000
citizens for flouting the quarantine rules, which stipulate that people can
venture out only if strictly necessary, such as for work, health-related
reasons or to go to the supermarket. Police have increased checks in recent
days and troops are patrolling streets in Naples and Sicily. Perhaps
misunderstanding the rules, people took the opportunity to go jogging or walk
in the park, leading to all parks being closed on Saturday. People can still
exercise outside as long as they stay close to home.
After
another steep rise in the death toll on Saturday night to 4,825, Conte made
another dramatic speech while announcing all businesses, apart from those
supplying essential goods and services, must close. “It is the most difficult
crisis of our postwar period,” he said.
Pantaleo
said: “Now that we are really in touch with the possibility of dying – either
ourselves, a family member or friend, we take it seriously and are increasingly
motivated to behave in accordance with the social norms.
“So the
example set by institutions is very important because if the norms are clear
and group leaders stick to them, then we will follow. We will also see our
self-esteem increase as we act together towards a common goal, contributing
even by keeping as calm as possible at home.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário