Italy looks at life after lockdown — with fear
and reluctance
‘My biggest fear is that our sacrifice will have been
in vain.’
By GRETA
PRIVITERA 4/9/20, 4:00 AM CET
MILAN — In
Codogno, a small town in the northwestern region of Lodi, people have been
confined to their houses for more than six weeks. But many aren’t anxious to
see life go back to normal — at least, not yet.
Before the
coronavirus epidemic hit, Codogno was a town just like any other in the region,
with its low-lying, pastel-colored houses and surrounding fields.
That all
changed in late February, when the community of 16,000 people suddenly appeared
on every front page in Europe as ground zero of Italy’s rapidly exploding
outbreak — and one of the first towns on the Continent to be fully locked down.
The
transition from normal to coronavirus lockdown happened almost overnight. On
February 21, a 38-year-old local man showed up at the hospital in a severe
condition and tested positive for the virus. The next day, there were 40 new
infections and two people had died. On February 23, Codogno and 10 nearby
municipalities were shut down and formed part of a so-called red zone.
“The
citizens were in shock,” Sara Boschiroli, a local psychologist who started a
hotline to support residents, recalled.
The rapid
lockdown seems to have had a positive effect: The number of new cases is close
to zero and pressure on hospitals has eased.
As the
contagion spread to other regions, Italy soon became a case study for
researchers in the rest of Europe and the United States trying to predict how
the virus would affect their communities.
Within
Italy, authorities are studying Codogno’s trajectory for clues on how to adapt their
response in other regions, which are some 15 days behind: How have lockdown
measures affected the virus’s spread, and how are people reacting to the strict
restrictions?
The first
question is a little easier to answer than the second.
The rapid
lockdown seems to have had a positive effect: The number of new cases is close
to zero and pressure on hospitals has eased — unlike in some municipalities in
the province of Bergamo, which also saw serious outbreaks but in an attempt to
protect the economy were not turned into red zones during the initial stages of
the epidemic.
"Today,
we are no longer in full emergency," Stefano Paglia, the head of emergency
services for Lodi and Codogno, said in an interview with the newspaper Il
Giorno. "For the last three days, only about 30 people have come to the
emergency room for symptoms attributable to COVID-19. Just three weeks ago
there were between 100 and 120 a day.”
But while
residents are relieved to be on the other side of the curve, many now fear what
comes next.
'A long
road'
"We
have been in lockdown for 44 days, we are tired and above all we do not know
when it will end," said Monica Moretti, a mother of two who was laid off
from her job in a lawyer's office at the start of the crisis.
Her
paycheck is not her greatest concern, she said.
“Sure we
need money, but this is a conscious effort that I make to save others’ lives
and my own. My biggest fear is that another outbreak will explode and that our
sacrifice will have been in vain.”
Like
Moretti, many in Codogno are worried that lifting restrictions will spark
another outbreak.
The town’s
official Facebook page is full of posts from people calling for even stricter
measures. People frequently call out their neighbors on social media for going
on a run or taking their children to the park, activities that are not allowed
under the lockdown measures. Some even report these types of infringements to the
police.
The
prevailing feeling in the town is of restlessness and anxiety, said Boschiroli,
the psychologist. And yet, fear that the curve has only flattened temporarily
outweighs the desire for freedom.
“My
patients are anxious and they feel that their lives are on hold,” said
Boschiroli, but “they fear that the others will infect them.”
“You get used to being separated,” she added. “Now
keeping your distance is normal. Unconsciously, you think the others can infect
you, you don't trust them anymore.”
Some fear
it won’t be possible to return to “normal” life at all.
“In
February, we thought that in a month it would all be over, but the more the
days go by, the more I realize that it will be a long road,” said Stefano
Oltolini, a Codogno resident who works for NGO Soleterre. “I feel we won't get
life back as we knew it."
Oltolini
used to travel with his family all over Europe on low-cost flights, he said.
"I know it's not vital, but the idea of not being able to do it makes me
sad — not to travel means not to widen your mental boundaries.” The lockdown,
he said, feels “infinite.”
Other parts
of Italy are showing similarly encouraging signs that the peak of the epidemic
is either nearing or already behind them.
Businesses,
too, are anxious about how and when restrictions will ease up. Entrepreneurs,
in many cases, are bearing the brunt of the emergency measures and fear for the
future of their ventures.
“When they
can, they try to make do by themselves, like some local supermarkets that have
organized home deliveries,” said Laura Gozzini, a journalist who has been
following COVID-19 up close for Il Cittadino, a local newspaper. “Many others
cannot do anything, some have goods overstocked, and some have stopped
production for a month and a half.”
For all of
them, she added, “the €600 a month the government has allocated is ridiculous.
But despite the difficulties, there is a great sense of responsibility."
City in
mourning
The
national government left Codogno in the lurch, Francesco Passerini, the
35-year-old mayor of Codogno, said in an interview over the phone.
“We had
requests, such as protective devices, but they did not listen to us,” said
Passerini, a member of the far-right League party, which is in opposition to
Italy’s ruling coalition. “We had to manage as much as we could, and now we
produce disinfectant, distribute meals to the elderly and shop for those who
cannot afford it.”
Still, he
is proud, he said, of the way locals responded. "They demonstrated a
respect for the rules that is moving.”
Passerini —
who said he still wanders the deserted streets of his town with a megaphone
reminding people to stay home — has fielded calls from officials hoping to draw
lessons from his administration’s handling of the situation, including one last
week from Tokyo.
Other parts
of Italy are showing similarly encouraging signs that the peak of the epidemic
is either nearing or already behind them. The number of intensive care and
emergency room admissions is falling, and deaths are decreasing, even if the
rate remains high.
But with
the future still uncertain, even those who have been under lockdown the longest
are reluctant to move forward too quickly.
“To all the
faithful I say: Have trust, it will pass” — Laura Gozzini
Now that
the shock has mostly passed, Codogno’s residents are taking stock of the toll
the virus has taken on their community.
“Right now
we are a wounded city that mourns its dead," said Gozzini, the local
reporter. “We have lost a generation of elderly people who made our history —
like Giuseppe Vecchietti, the founder of the local civil protection agency, and
Giovanni Ghessa, a commander of the carabinieri."
Codogno
recorded 124 deaths in the month after its first confirmed case. Don Igigno
Passerini, the local parish priest, knew almost all of them.
Confinement
measures meant he couldn’t be with them when they died, or hold funerals with
those they left behind. The only option is still to pray alone or in small
groups at the cemetery.
He recalled
visiting a church in Codogno where 15 to 20 coffins were awaiting cremation.
"I cried,” he said. “It was shocking, I'm used to seeing death, but not
like that.”
As the
weeks go by, he said has noticed that his community seems more peaceful and
serene than at the start of the outbreak.
In his
daily radio broadcasts and weekly live stream on Sundays, he relays the same
message: “To all the faithful I say: Have trust, it will pass.”
The only
question is how — and when.
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