710 cases in Umbria. 9.5% increase.

74,386 cases Italy wide. A 7.5% increase.

Now we’re cooking with gas!! We’ve reached the top of the bell curve. It’s what we’ve been waiting for. Single digits! But unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case in Lombardia and north. Still growing there. No one understands why.
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Trash
In Umbertide, there are places around the Centro with rows of trash receptacales. One for carta (paper), vetro and plastica (glass and plastic), indifferente (trash that doesn’t care) and biodegradable. The closest one to us is maybe 250 meters away, on the edge of the Centro.

As the days have passed, I couldn’t help but notice the ENORMOUS pile of trash that has been building up in our hallway. In our normal routine, Luther would be carrying a bag out whenever he goes for a run. And we carry some out whenever we go to the store. Now, however, neither of these activities are happening. So…it looks like dedicated trips to the trash cans must be made. I assume the police will let us do that as long as we are carrying a stinking bad of garbage. It even occurred to Luther that he could put the bags in the back seat of the car and if stopped, claim he’s going to the dump. Ah, the fantasies we indulge in…

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From the New York Times —
“Based on epidemiological projections, as the virus ran unchecked, it would quickly expand to infect somewhat over half the population before herd immunity would slow its course. Assuming a death rate of about 1 percent of those infected, about 1.7 million Americans would die within a year.“

I will add that the 1% death rate is not in line with the facts so far. Here it averages 3.4%. So the death rate would increase by over three times if it holds true.
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Someday this will be past for the human race. And those who survive will go back to their lives. My sister shared this poem with me. It sums up so many of my feelings.

When This is Over -Laura Kelly Fanucci

When this is over,
may we never again
take for granted
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theater
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.
When this ends
may we find
that we have become
more like the people
we wanted to be
we were called to be
we hoped to be
and may we stay
that way — better
for each other
because of the worst.
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Stay safe and at home my friends. Faremo insieme…

197 positive cases in Umbria yesterday. Still growing by 20% a day, or thereabouts.

2 new cases here in Umbertide. We got notice they will be disinfecting all surfaces around town. And to keep our windows closed.
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Public Service Announcement: Good source of info sent to me by a friend who works at Johns Hopkins University. coronavirus.jhu.edu
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I feel I’ve strayed from relating my own story here, so I’m going back to that primarily. Luther and I were just saying, as we arose to another day in our house…it is just like being under house arrest but we don’t have the ankle bracelets. 😂

I think today’s post will be stream of consciousness….
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There has been a very heated debate (mostly on Facebook expat groups) about whether people are allowed to go out of their houses to walk or run for exercise. Tonight on RAI One, one of the main TV stations here, they said that people are allowed to exercise, inside or outside, as long as they do it by themselves. I’ve been worrying about my inability to exercise my recently replaced knee. I don’t feel it is good to sit around the house all day, every day without exercising it. If this thing was short lived that would be OK. But we are hearing rumors it could go through the whole summer.
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Here’s another thought. We are in an agricultural area. I’m happy to report that the farmers are working their fields and planting. These are large scale (one crop in the field) farms. This reminded me of our lost Saturday Local Produce market. Where the people who come have farms around here to sell to us, the customers. And there is bound to be food in their fields which they would be selling to us in normal times. So what are they doing with this produce? The chain has broken. How can we facilitate the movement of the local food from the farms to the consumers here (who want it) with no venue? We need to come up with a new plan to help the farmers, so they will plant new crops at the proper time dictated by the season. We want them to keep planting. We don’t want them to go out of business. We need the chain to be unbroken. It is to everyone’s advantage to keep this going. I think I will post this on our local Umbria Facebook page…maybe we can come up with some ideas.
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Hmmmm. I was looking in the mirror today. Not a good idea, in the best of times. And I realized I’m overdue for a haircut. It occurred to me, since all the hairdressers are closed indefinitely, that we are going to be – ONE shaggy nation! OMG we will look like cavemen when we emerge from our casa caves. Whenever that may be…
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I’m still following the news from the US. Most of it is heartening. People are taking this all more seriously I think, finally. Except for one report from Florida…they’ve closed all the bars and clubs. Yay! But they let the restaurants stay open half capacity….Noooooooooo. 😱 If you are trying to limit transmission of this thing then go the whole way. Half full still transmits the contagion. Bad idea. I’m sure they are hoping to keep the restaurants solvent. I totally understand that. But I’m afraid our way of life will not be the same for a long time. Our businesses and economy will take huge hits. Inevitable. But more important are the millions…and I mean millions, who will die. We all need to act now.

An finally, and I’ll shut my trap after this, but a quote from our leaders. (What are they thinking?! 🤦🏻‍♀️)
“ Over the weekend, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a leading ally of President Trump, dismissed concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and said on Fox News that “it’s a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant.”

Oh my god.
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Gosh, this is not a good note on which to end. So let’s talk about lunch. I made a big soup today. It will last days. It has tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms, cabbage, one jalapeño, mixed grains and a little pasta. Very healthy, very hearty and filling. I serve it with a drizzle of good olive oil. 🙂 Picture!

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All y’all stay safe. Wash your hands! And Anderà tutti bene!

164 positive cases in Umbria. It continues to grow, here and in all of Italy. The new cases and deaths continue to set daily records. We have not yet turned the corner. But we are hoping we will soon.
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Another day has passed. And a beautiful spring day it is. I couldn’t ask for a prettier place to be stuck!

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I keep in touch daily, mostly through email and Facebook, and it makes me feel more connected. It is a real help to me. I also read multiple news sources every day. In my conversations I’ve noticed a very big difference in the way people are handling this enforced lockdown. A lot of it depends on ones personality. If a person feels the need for personal contact, they are having a hard time! If a person feels they need to always be busy with a project, it makes it more of a challenge. If a person is happy in his/her skin and with being solitary, it is easier. If a person can entertain themselves with reading, cooking, chatting with friends, it is not such a trial. I understand these differences and realize this whole thing will be different for each of us. But we hang together, and we hang in. The Italian saying is andrà tutti bene — it will all be better. You will see this everywhere here. Most of these signs are made by children. They don’t understand what is going on, so keeping their spirits up is key.
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People are still not taking this seriously enough.

Today I read a post by David Lebovitz. He writes a food blog from Paris. He said…” We are on day #1 of a fifteen-day confinement. Bars, cafés and restaurants were closed Saturday at midnight (which were packed in my neighborhood, as usual, with twenty- and thirty-somethings), and people were told to keep a distance between them and avoid public places. But the revelry continued on the streets around here through the wee hours of Sunday morning. Later in the morning, people waited in line, shoulder-to-shoulder, shopping at the Bastille market, and Sunday afternoon, people filled parks in Paris, or sat by the canal to have a beer with friends. To be honest, it was disheartening, and a little frightening, to watch the news and hear people being interviewed, talking about how they didn’t care, that they were going to do whatever they wanted. So here we are, with talk of the military coming in to make sure people stay indoors.”

And I said yesterday that Americans were not taking the virus threat seriously. To my point… I saw a poll today by NPR which said: “…only 56% of Americans consider the coronavirus a “real threat,” representing a drop of 10 percentage points from last month. At the same time, a growing number of Americans think the coronavirus is being “blown out of proportion.” This means 44% DO NOT consider it a threat.

This is dangerous thinking people. You put others at risk, not just yourself.
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I’ve been following the news from around the world from multiple sources. Finally countries are taking necessary steps.

France banned travel outside the home except for essential travel.

The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain have closed their borders to all foreigners.

Air travel is all but shut down. Countries are concentrating on helping to get their citizens back home.

The US and the UK both have changed their policies as of yesterday. The messages from the leaders are unambiguous at last. But the messages were quite different. One difference, Boris Johnson told the British people to prepare for it to last a year. Trump said for two weeks, but it could last into summer.

I’m sorry to hear the UK is still encouraging the schools to remain open.

Both the UK and many parts of the US are discouraging gatherings of 10 or more people. This is still too many people gathering together. At least according to my daily existence. I wonder how they come up with that number? Like 10 or less won’t transmit the virus? I don’t think so…

I noted the UK is “encouraging” people to stay home and they expect that most people “would accept that we are a mature and grown-up and liberal democracy where people understand very clearly the advice that is given to them”. But they said if necessary the powers to enforce the restrictions would be used.
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I mentioned a few days ago that life has changed in so many ways here. One was no gatherings, to include Mass, Weddings, Funerals. The very sad consequence of this is that, with so many deaths right now, the grief is compounded by the fact that people are being buried alone, with no loved ones attending the funeral which is attended by a Priest and the funeral home employee. Families are devastated.
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On a brighter note…The Italian papers are talking about the environmental changes happening here. The air pollution is practically nonexistent in the industrial North. And they said this morning, the canals in Venice are clearer that anyone can remember.
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My sister said to me the other day…
“Crisis is the best impetus for change. Maybe the world will emerge from this a better place. We can hope so.”
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Andrà tutti bene…