Il Martello
I am having a Déjà-vu. Or perhaps I should call it a Déjà-écouté, because it started with sound - the noticeable increase in the blaring noise of ambulance sirens. There is virus in the air. And am not talking about droplets or aerosol (though that too), I am talking about the atmosphere. There is a palpable increase in fear and anxiety. There is also anger, rage. A constant flurry of notifications flashes up on my phone. The government is machinating a new decree. What will the decree say? Speculation about the new decree. The regional governments oppose the new decree. The Prime Minister will make an announcement at 1:30pm. What does the new decree mean for you? The Bulletin: Cases rising above 20k. Epidemiologists say that the curve is out of control.
So, here we are again.
Yesterday the government announced a kind of semi-lockdown. In addition to the curfew from 11pm-5am, restaurants and bars will have to close after 6pm, gyms, pools and spas closed, theatres and cinemas closed. Parties banned. It is highly recommended that you don’t have friends (anybody who doesn’t live with you) over to your house. Secondary schools have to shift to a minimum of 75% of students on distance learning, DAD they call it for “Didattica a distanza”. What a fun acronym. It kind of sounds like Dadaism, the avant-garde art movement of the early 20th century. But there is hardly anything avant-garde about depriving adolescents of a decent education. I am not referring to our daughter’s education, as we are privileged enough to send our children to a private school that has this distance learning thing down, I am talking about most Italian kids who go to public schools, in which, as far as I’ve read, the DAD is not very good. I am thinking of all the kids who don’t have an adequate workspace or computer or printer to actually concentrate at home and learn anything. What will happen to this generation?
Protests have been erupting all over the country. Complaints abound. Members of the theatre community lament the fact that churches are allowed to stay open, while they are not. Congregating to pray doesn’t spread the virus, while going to the theatre does. Indeed, the new measures don’t really follow a clear logic. But something has to be done. The focus is now “Let’s save Christmas”. In the spring it was, “Let’s save the summer! I feel like we should be saving our kids from missing out on a real education. I know I know; December is also an important month for retail and many other businesses. So fine, let’s “save” what we can. But at the rate we are going, I don’t know who will have money left to spend in December. In Naples the riots have been particularly bad. For the past three days people have taken to the streets to vent their anger that their livelihood is being threatened. The rumour is that the protests are being fuelled by organised crime.
And so, it is all happening exactly as predicted. The second wave, and the proverbial “hammer” that is coming down on us, so that maybe we can dance in December. * Meanwhile, I am going to rush to get my roots done while the hairdresser is still open. With cases rising sharply over the past week, and the data probably lagging by 10 days or so, more restrictions feel like they are around the corner.
*If you are not familiar with the concept see here