Updated.
March 24, 2020 08: 16:56
It’s been less than 8 weeks considering that Italy’s first case of coronavirus was found. Life is unrecognisable now.
Throughout Italy, the cobbled lanes and as soon as dynamic piazzas appear like ghost towns. A country of 60 million people remains in lockdown.
However in family houses throughout the nation, Italians are adjusting to a brand-new typical.
Stuck inside their homes, they are caring for each other.
And making the most of a difficult situation, investing more time with family.
Kids are going to school over video conference, waving “ciao” to pals and teachers each morning.
While grownups are finding new places to work, on cooking area tables and sofas.
Socialising is instilled in Italian culture. Aperitifs with friends are still delighted in, but now over an iPad.
And exercise is performed in whatever space is readily available– in rural backyards and inner-city courtyards.
On The Other Hand for those who still have to venture outside, to queue for the supermarket or go to the office, the threat of coronavirus is ever present.
‘ Today I became afraid’
Confined to her home for the past 3 weeks, Catriona Wallace has actually watched on with an anxious calm as an invisible menace has run riot throughout northern Italy.
However it was not till the day of our interview that she first felt worry.
” I’m not a person who has an impulse to be scared about things like this, however I need to state today … I became frightened,” Catriona states.
Unable to travel to Italy, Foreign Reporter utilized Skype interviews and mobile phone video to go inside the country’s coronavirus lockdown to see how Italians are adjusting.
Ignoring the serene Lake Maggiore in the village of Sesto Calende, about 50 kilometres north of Milan, Catriona’s house may have felt securely removed from the chaos of Italy’s coronavirus frontline.
But the infection has struck a little too close for comfort. There is a random element to the infection that has actually agitated everybody.
A buddy, who lives only 200 metres down the roadway, was hospitalised and hurried into intensive care with severe respiratory symptoms. He is 50 years old and had no underlying medical concerns.
” It really hit house to me since he got up on Monday morning with the symptoms and by Tuesday he remained in hospital,” she states.
Only days previously he had actually asked Catriona and her household around for a social engagement, an invitation they just missed out on since they were out strolling the pet dog.
” It’s a bit like being on home arrest, since we essentially do not leave the confines of our propert