Yesterday, the government in Italy issued the rules we will follow for the Christmas, New Year, and Epiphany time period. They are ridiculously slow about these proclamations. For days before they “sign” it, we get all kinds of conflicting information. I’ve come to ignore the whole thing until the pen is on the paper.
Our three zone system here in Italy has managed to help reduce our new case numbers by almost half, and our positivity rate to below 10, which is the goal. But, as we all know from human nature, and also from concrete examples over Thanksgiving in the US, people feel a need to gather on these holidays. Natale in Italy is a family holiday. It will be very hard for people to not get together with their families. I completely get this. But if they do, they will inevitably spread the virus to their friends and families. Best to bite the bullet and stay home this year…for everyone’s good.
Here is the diagram showing what we will be doing here for the holidays from Corriere della Sera. Yellow means the restaurants and bars are open in the daytime until six. There is a curfew from 10pm-5am. We can travel between other yellow regions. Orange means bars/restaurants are open for take-out only and we are restricted to traveling in our region only (Umbria). Same curfew. Red means we must stay home unless for buying food, medicines, for medical reasons, or necessary work. Shops are closed. We are allowed to have two people visit in our home. This is our calendar.
I am happy to comply with these rules. I don’t feel anyone is infringing on my rights. I am appreciative of the Italian government for trying to control the virus. After all, the vaccines will be available to us all in the next six months. We merely need to wait and stay home. For everyone’s good. As I’ve said before…there is always next year. We just need to do this for this one year. How hard is that in the grand scheme of things?
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Stay home. Stay safe. Stay well. Stay alive. It will all be better soon. Andrà tutto bene 🌈
WHY ARE SO MANY ITALIANS DYING OF COVID – latest US headline
Factors for this:
1. Demographics – Italy has worlds oldest population next to Japan. 1in 4 Italians is over 65yrs; most likely to succumb
2. Multigenerational homes common in Italy. 95% of those killed by virus in Italy are over 60. 86% over 70.
They show a chart with daily confirmed covid deaths per million and Italy leads USA, UK and Spain.
Rest of article merges with your upcoming lockdown explanation.
Hope this adds to conversation.Stay safe and stay put.
WSJ Dec 21, 2020:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-are-so-many-italians-dying-of-covid-19-11608469200?st=zamjm89ara3inri&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Everyday I am grateful to be living in a country that actually cares. The family is sacred here, grandmothers and grandfathers are not left to be at risk, people make a bad situation better, if you recall the singing from balcony to balcony in the cities. And now the vaccine is coming. Sadly that is scaring some people but I am confidant this will be addressed and we will move forward. Lucky us, to be living here, the country with heart.
Hi Nancy- I so enjoy your blog! We have a little house in Le Marche, but unfortunately haven’t been able to go in over a year :(. We miss Italy terribly, so reading your posts about everyday life makes me feel closer. Hopefully it won’t be long before we can go back. In the meantime, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Ciao Nancy. Agreed, bite the bullet today so need for bullets tomorrow. What’s the vaccine situation in Italy? Cuomo has shut down indoor restaurant dining in NYC even though positivity rate is less than 3% in Manhattan. Not that I’m planning on dining indoors but restaurants may not survive. Will be another quiet holiday. Be safe.
I couldn’t agree more. We are Americans living in France and we also feel appreciative that we have a government run by responsible adults. It is so sad to see how incompetent the US government has been so far and it is little wonder that people have lost trust and therefore are not complying with the rules. It truly is like herding cats. Or it would be if there were a shepherd at the helm.