I hate Phase 2
Phase 2 is such a cock-tease*. It got us all hot and excited, but for what? You can go out for a gelato, but the gelato has to be served in a cup. I will not be happy until I can eat gelato in a cone. You can see your friends, but you can’t hug them. You can go the hairdresser, but your hairdresser looks like he is preparing to engage in a chemical warfare. I keep hearing people saying things like “Slowly things are going back to normal.” Or, “I can’t wait to get back to normal”. Or my favourite: “It’s the new normal.” No, people. This is not normal. Nicola Zingaretti, the governor of the Lazio region stated we should think of the mask as the fashion statement for the summer. He compared it to a tie, a scarf, a necklace, a piercing. Yes, a piercing. He should have a word with Donald Trump or those crazy store owners in the U.S who actually prohibit people from wearing masks.
As for my own mixed feelings about mask-wearing, I have accepted they are here to stay. While I refuse to think of face masks as a piercing, I decided to purchase some cute masks made by an Italian textile brand called Faliero Sarti. These do have three layers of fabric and are protective other than being “attractive”. At least I will not be contributing to the waste of disposable masks.
We’ve now gone from monitoring the R0 to the Rt. From what I understand, both values represent the reinfection rate of the virus, but the R0 is during the course of the epidemic, while the Rt (where t stands for time) is after containment measures have been put into place. Since lockdown has been loosened the Rt has gone up in Milan, from 0.6 to 0,86. The goal is to keep it under 1. In the rest of Italy, the Rt seems to be steady or declining. However, this data should be taken with a large grain of salt. More and more evidence is appearing that the numbers being reported are questionable. Just now a news story flashed up on my phone that somewhere along the line the Civil Protection Agency omitted or forgot to report an additional 1,390 deaths. Also, it appears that there is a tremendous amount of inconsistency in the data that is being supplied by Italy’s regions. An article in the Corriere della Sera today discusses that states are collecting data based on different criteria and that numbers being submitted are often sloppy and late . It also points out the agency cost of regions being responsible for supplying data. It is obviously in a state’s interest to underreport or dice the numbers in such a way that they look good. Everyone is trying to salvage the summer tourist season.
Indeed, it has been announced that the interregional travel will be allowed on June 3rd only between states where the risk of infection is at the same level. There is a real chance Lombardy will be left out of that list and we will remain stuck here - for the time being. No wonder Beppe Sala recently broadcast his daily video from Milan’s Idroscalo, a manmade lake originally created for seaplane-landings, that is now a kind of urban fun-park. He suggested that it will be a great place for the Milanese to spend their summer. Thanks Beppe, but I will keep dreaming about my weekend at the seaside. The European states met to discuss reopening borders, but no agreement was found. Countries are making bilateral agreements and “tourism” corridors are being formed. Italy is obviously not included.
*apologies for the use of this sexist term and comparing Phase 2 to a woman. I obviously suffer from internalised sexism. I am working on it.