Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer*
I suppose it was just a matter of time. If we’ve learned anything about this Coronavirus it is that the infections rise in an exponential way. As of my last writing, cases here in Italy have doubled, and we’ve been hitting about 9,000-11,000 new cases for the last few days. Today we had 10, 874 cases and 89 deaths. The dreaded second wave has officially hit, and from what I understand (which is not a lot, by the way), it’s even a little early. Most experts predicted a second wave in the winter, not this early on in the autumn. No time to enjoy the fall foliage my friends. Lombardy is once again the region with the most cases (with Campania the second worse off), and the city of Milan has been badly affected. Hospitals are beginning to feel the pressure. Experts are forecasting that by the end of October 4000 people will need hospitalisation in Milan with 600 in ICU. Tension is mounting.
The government spent all weekend deliberating yet another decree only to announce a series of half-measures and pass the buck to local governments on the tougher calls. Among the new measures announced were: The earlier closing of bars and restaurants, the banning of amateur contact sports, a vague warning to gyms and pools that they have one week to get their act together to follow “the rules” (which rules? new rules? old rules?) or else they will be shuttered, and high schools moving to a hybrid online learning schedule or staggered arrivals in the morning. The issue around schools here isn’t the infection rate in schools, but the pressure on the public transport system from millions of kids going to school. Since they can’t get their act together to put more buses, trams and metros on the road, high school kids need to bear the consequences. The Minister of Education has been fighting hard to keep schools open, let’s hope she can win this battle. In the Campania region, governor de Luca went ahead and closed schools already, much to everyone’s dismay.
Also, another point in the decree was that private companies should move to having 75% of the work force working remotely, though this is a recommendation only, and not an enforceable law. Despite the pandemic, my impression is that most Italian companies are simply too paternalistic to embrace the idea of a remote workforce and that as of September most companies have quietly called their people back to the office. Milanese traffic would certainly substantiate that theory.
In Lombardy, the local government has decided to institute a curfew from 11 pm to 5 am as of this Thursday and has banned alcohol sales in supermarkets and at bars without table service after 6 pm. This is some kind of half-assed measure to keep people (mostly young people, teenagers, I assume) from buying booze and drinking in the parks and squares. I don’t want to state the obvious, but I can’t help it. These people can just buy their liquor at 5:30 pm instead and still drink in the park, in large groups, until 11pm. If the point is to stop Italians from engaging in “movida” (a term for nightlife borrowed from Spanish which sounds more ridiculous by the second), then I think it’s safe to say that these measures will only make people compress their outing into less hours, which is potentially more dangerous.
We keep hearing that the situation is not the same as it was back in March (lower average age of the infected, a smaller percentage of people needing hospitalisation, more hospital beds, a system for testing and tracking, etc.) and the government has stated again and again that we cannot afford another lockdown. The same thought has been echoed by other European leaders. I certainly would not want to be in the shoes of a politician right now, not even in Angela Merkel’s, though I admire her deeply, as you may recall. I think the only thing we can do as citizens is lock ourselves down to a degree, keep the bubble small, limit going out unnecessarily and, yes, wear that mask. In the meantime, don’t forget to stock up on alcohol before 6pm, - winter is coming, and it’s going to be a long one.