135,586 positives in Italy. Up 2.2%. 17,171 deaths. All numbers are dropping.
1,263 positives in Umbria. Up 0.07%. 49 deaths. This is in line with what is wanted to relax the restrictions. Great news!

386,800 cases in the US. 12,285 deaths.
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So, speaking of restrictions…The below is from Tuesday edition of Corriere della Sera.

4th May will be an important date here in Italy as the government will assess the numbers of new infections and study the possibility of relaxing the lockdown.

In the meantime, there is word that Phase 2 is in the planning stage with hopes that certain industrial enterprises may reopen mid April on a limited basis.

Above all else, the government’s priority is to avoid a resurgence of infections during the summer months.

The restrictions pertaining to activities, gatherings and non-essential services ie. hairdressers, clothing shops etc will remain in effect throughout the weeks of May.

Furthermore, the distance between individuals in public, face coverings and the personal declaration forms will be enforced for the foreseeable future.
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I also saw this line in a newsletter published by MIT.
“This isn’t a temporary disruption. It’s the start of a completely different way of life.”

That got my attention.

“The world has changed many times, and it is changing again. All of us will have to adapt to a new way of living, working, and forging relationships. But as with all change, there will be some who lose more than most, and they will be the ones who have lost far too much already. The best we can hope for is that the depth of this crisis will finally force countries—the US, in particular—to fix the yawning social inequities that make large swaths of their populations so intensely vulnerable.”

I have wondered how this will permanently affect our world. The article these excerpts came from gave some pretty good best guess scenarios. People do adapt. This may be more difficult than most things…
~~~~~~~

So, look what I did yesterday! I feel pretty good about this. I also watched the YouTube how-to video. Next….the sewing machine…

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So, time to say arrivederci…until tomorrow…stay safe at home…🌈Andrà tutto bene…

132,547 positives in Italy. Up 2.7%. 16,523 deaths.
1,253 positives in Umbria. Up 1.1%. 44 deaths.

352,546 cases in the US. 10,389 deaths.
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Buongiorno a tutti. Tuesday. Martedì. Today marks the fourth week of quarantine. 28 days.

Italy has turned the so-called corner. Which is good. The lockdown continues however. Luther and I were discussing just how long the Italian populace…or any populace for that matter, can be told…”just 2 weeks longer” before anarchy ensues. Is it better to say right up front, this is going to take two months? Set expectations more realistically. Because when you say you are locked down for two weeks…people hunker down and try. Then they say, well, that was good, but we need two more weeks…so we do it again….now we’ve got two MORE weeks. And people are definitely not being as good anymore. Not sure the answer.

I watch the news from the US and other countries daily. And see the numbers going up. I enjoy Governor Cuomo. And I hear him say the curve is flattening…and that’s good too. But, from our experience here it seems way too early to believe it is truly under control. I hope it is so. If the Italians get antsy being told to stay inside for weeks, I know the Americans will chaff against it even more.
~~~~~

I decided to make masks for Luther and I…I decided this last week. Since then I have thought about it each day. Which means I’m making progress. A couple of days ago, while cleaning out the kitchen drawer, I found a dishcloth that looks like a good thing to use to make the masks. Big, big step! Yesterday, I ACTUALLY downloaded and printed a pattern for masks. HUGE step. Now, the patterns are sitting on my desk. I will contemplate them for at least a day or two… before looking at the sewing machine. It may take a day or two more to get that out…🙃

I took trash out yesterday. 🗑 I also went to the ATM. 💶 And I made minestrone soup for lunches. 🍲. Luther went to the farmacia. I counted 18 people waiting in front of the bank this morning. I think I will go out on the terrace and add guano to the pots of soil to enrich the dirt. Sigh. As you’ve probably noticed, I don’t have too much to talk about…on day 28 of quarantine. Living through historical events can be amazingly boring.
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Stay home and safe… no matter how boring.🌈

128,948 positives in Italy. Up 3.4%. 15,877 deaths.
1,239 positives in Umbria. Up 2.3%

331,151 cases in the US. 9,441 deaths.
~~~~~~~
President Trump on Saturday warned that the nation would face “a lot of death,”  while also saying he would like to consider relaxing social distancing rules for Easter services.

I am sorry to tell our illustrious leader that you cannot turn on, and turn off, social distancing! If you do, do you think people will just decide to keep their sicknesses to themselves for that bit of time?!  If you allow Easter services, people WILL spread the infection…and prolong this agony of enforced isolation…not to mention major economic downturn and many more deaths. Puleeeze. I would say use your brain…but well, I forgot you haven’t visited the Wizard to get one yet…

~~~~~~
True-ism for the US…“From the Oval Office to the CDC, political and institutional failures cascaded through the system and opportunities to mitigate the pandemic were lost.”
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”Denial is not likely to be a successful strategy for survival,” GOP pollster Neil Newhouse concluded in a document that was shared with GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and discussed widely at the White House. Trump’s most ardent supporters, it said, were “putting themselves and their loved ones in danger.”
~~~~~~
Luther returned from a trip to pick up our weekly dinners from Calagrana. Starting this week they are preparing a box of fresh vegetables and fruit. It helps us stay home longer with less trips to the grocery. The produce will vary according to what is available. Such a great idea..

Our dinner was also courtesy of Calagrana. Cabbage packages – they were stuffed with pork along with cauliflower cheese gratin! Maximum comfort food.

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So, a new day. And a new week. Tomorrow we begin our fifth week of isolation. It has been a long slog and I fear we have a ways to go. But the heartening news is that our curve has flattened and begun to fall from its peak, as was hoped.  This makes it worthwhile. People here are taking this duty to stay home pretty seriously, nonetheless the police are out in force everywhere. If you stray far from home they will stop to ask why you are out and where you are going.
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I was talking to my brave niece last night. She is a nurse on the front lines in this war against COVID. I am so proud of her. A hero.  We talked of a lot of things but how to personally deal with this catastrophe did come up. It is something I wondered about. The nurses and doctors have to compartmentalize. They kind of check part of themselves at the door, kind of like checking a coat. Then, they work hours helping very sick people and trying to save lives. And, when the shift is over, they pick up that part of themselves and return to life as well as possible. It is a good way to do it. And one day, when the war is over, these brave people will have to deal with their feelings.  And she has a standing offer to come to Italy. If anything can heal a person, Italy can. Thank you for what you are doing my sweet niece. Be careful and stay safe.
~~~~~~
Stay home everyone, and stay well…Andrà tutto bene – it will be better. 🌈 

124,632 positives in Italy. Up 4%. 15,362 deaths.
1,210 positives in Umbria. Up 2.6%. 41 deaths.

300,915 cases in the US. 8,162 deaths.
~~~~~~~
A byproduct of the shut down in Europe (and China and…well, just about everywhere in the world!) is a reduction in air pollution and noise pollution. In my mind, it is an amazing thing. Do you think that Mother Nature is really pissed about what the human race is doing to her world? Do you think maybe this is her way of fixing it? Hmmm. Boredom makes for strange musings…

Here is an excerpt from a short blurb I read about Paris.

Parisians confined to their apartments by a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus can at least now open their windows and breathe fresh air, listen to the birds and enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep.


That’s because air and noise pollution have fallen sharply in Paris, where streets are largely deserted, empty of the traffic and tumult that usually drown birdsong and choke the air near landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.
“

We’re really witnessing an improvement in air quality, including pollutants responsible for global warming,” said Karine Leger, head of the Airparif agency, which monitors air quality in the greater Paris region.


The same is true for noise pollution. At street level on some of Paris busiest thoroughfares, noise levels are down to as little as six to nine decibels at night, some 70 to 90 percent lower than normal, according to Bruitparif, which monitors noise quality.

What do you think?
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Buona domenica to all..and I was reminded it is Palm Sunday. It is normally a hugely important day in the clerical calendar here. The bells are tolling outside as they normally do on a Sunday…calling the faithful to mass. I can’t imagine what a hole this quarantine is making in some folks lives.

It also reminds me where I was last year on this day. I was in Catania, Sicily. I will read my trip report (https://nancygoestoitaly.com/sicily-for-easter-week-with-friends/) and relive better days…even though I was sick on that trip, I was traveling somewhere…

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Have a nice Sunday at home everyone! Stay safe. Faremo insieme!

• Umbria has 969 positives and 28 deaths. This is a rise of 9.6%
• Italy has 92,472 positives and 10,023 deaths. This is a rise of just 6.9%.

Wow, it’s dropping, it really is. (!) The reduction in the number of cases is ahead of the deaths but that’s to be expected. It takes someone on average about a week to die, so there’s a lag. Not to be callous about it, but it is a fact.
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Another very good Atlantic article .
The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life

Quote below. And at the same time, South Korea acted decisively and have controlled the virus.

When the definitive history of the coronavirus pandemic is written, the date 20 January 2020 is certain to feature prominently. It was on that day that a 35-year-old man in Washington state, recently returned from visiting family in Wuhan in China, became the first person in the US to be diagnosed with the virus…

…It was not until 29 February, more than a month after the Journal article and almost six weeks after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country that the Trump administration put that advice into practice. Laboratories and hospitals would finally be allowed to conduct their own Covid-19 tests to speed up the process…

…Those missing four to six weeks are likely to go down in the definitive history as a cautionary tale of the potentially devastating consequences of failed political leadership. Today, 86,012 cases have been confirmed across the US, pushing the nation to the top of the world’s coronavirus league table – above even China.

It is more than 110,000 now (since the article just 2 days ago). It doubles every 3-4 days…you can imagine what it will become. I have to hope, that sooner rather than later, everyone in the US, no matter their political persuasion will come to believe this is real, and it is a juggernaut.

My happy spot for the US is the amazing Governors/mayors of (some of) the States/cities. Due to the lack of coherent leadership at the top it has fallen to the States. And they are rising to the challenge.
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I finally baked my cookies!

The recipe is one from a David Libowitz. It is probably the best Oatmeal cookie I’ve ever had.
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I was talking to a friend a couple days ago. We asked each other “when this is over will you feel comfortable going out?” We each answered no. And the double kiss greeting in Italy? It may take awhile. This is incredibly sad, as it defines the Italian culture.

I think I’ll call the syndrome PCVSD. Post Corona Virus Stress Disorder. I’ve been reading that it may well be a real thing. People will/already do, have agoraphobia. They don’t want to leave their safe place, their house.
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Today is gorgeous. Watery sunshine. Birds are singing in the little forest behind us. The House Martins are flitting wildly about, as they do. And I got to go outside for a bit to pick up our weekly Calagrana dinners and wine. After lasts weeks run in with the Carabinieri I was nervous. And I was by myself. Drove fast, fast across the bridge and parked behind a bush.🤣 Right away Ely arrived with the food. Then, Gary, then Paul with Georgia (their pup) and finally someone else I don’t know. We all rushed about, unloading-loading, but I, for one, was deliriously happy to see people. Even if from / feet apart 😳. It felt wonderful. ☺️
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Buona domenica everyone. We had good news here so you will too in the not too distant future — if everyone self quarantines. Stay home and safe. Forza America. Forza Italia.
💕💕💕

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…