The Italian schools closed

Brand new Italian cookies: Greetings (from a distance)

For about thirty-six hours the Italian government has decreed the closure of schools ‘of every order and grade’. Unfortunately, what the Tuscan comedian Leonardo Pieraccioni, the spokesman for the wishes of all Italian parents, has hoped for a moment, that is to say that the schools were closed with our kids locked inside, did not happen. Kids were left to us, unfortunately.

Italian mother desperate because of the closure of the schools

I love my daughter. She is the light of my eyes, my only reason for living, my divinity, like every child for an Italian mother (clucking, anxious, control freak). But I look at my watch, I see that it is eight o'clock in the morning and I realize that, from the moment of the announcement of the closure of the schools to now, my daughter and I have: played with dolls, played real and invented instruments, done some homework listlessly, read a few lines as if it were a sentence to death, prepared two cakes, a roast, a pudding, watched the dvd of Hotel Transylvania 1, Hotel Transylvania 2, Hotel Transylvania 3, danced the macarena together with the characters, had a walk  (a short one, because the gray weather matches the situation) and played like if we were in school (yes, because like every child in the world, she complains about going to school and then, when she doesn't go, she complains about not going). In short, considering all this, I wonder what we will do the next ten days. T-E-N.

All this because schools, playgrounds, cinemas, theaters, libraries, and any other gathering place, are currently closed or not recommended for entry, here in Italy. This happens across the country, not to mention the North, a no man's land that compares Mordor - the deserted land created by the fantasy of Tolkien - to Disneyland.

Codogno, a small town in Northern Italy, has become the new Mordor, according to some italian Journalists

All this because, a few months ago, China was hit by a virus of which there is currently no vaccine. 'The' coronavirus' (CoV) - says the site of the history of Italian Medicine - are a large family of respiratory viruses that can cause mild to moderate diseases, from the common cold to respiratory syndromes such as' MERS '(Middle East respiratory syndrome) and 'SARS' (Severe acute respiratory syndrome). On January 9, 2020, the "China CDC" (the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of China) identified a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as the cause of a pneumonia epidemic that erupted in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan. (Hubei Province, China). Many of the initial cases reported an exposure to the 'Wuhan's South China Seafood City market' (a possible transmission mechanism from live animals was suspected). 

Chinese dog avoiding the contagion

In February the virus made its appearance in Italy and, thanks to some sensationalist journalists, the usual ones who rub their hands every time some bad news arrive, a conspicuous group of social network hypochondriacs (the majority of social network users, actually), a foreign minister that used to sell drinks at the Stadium and the Italians themselves, a fearful people par excellence who immediately gave themselves over to the sacking of supermarkets and pharmacies, in a few hours panic took over common sense and our country became from a mere outbreak of the disease - which, meanwhile, emerged to be present also in France, England and Germany – to a place of bubbonic plague victims from which to run away.

A lady visiting Venice during the Carnaval

I don't know exactly how many Italians work in the tourism sector, but I have no doubt that it is the driving industry in the country and that many workers, including myself, are currently on their knees due to the flight of tourists, unmotivated but understandable given the attitude of the Italians and the government, and the blockade of airports.

But what is the actual danger of the virus? I am not a virologist, and even among virologists theories vary, however, it seems that its danger consists in the fact that it is extremely dangerous for the elderly and chronically ill, that it spreads easily, that there is no vaccine and that, in a situation like that, the mere thought that Italian hospitals fill up with patients as happened in China leads us to total despair and disorientation. For one reason only: in China they built a hospital from scratch in six days, while here in Italy it takes six more times to decide to build it, and as many to understand where, and then to make the announcement of assignment to the company that will build it, and then find the most suitable materials, and in the end, when the work begins, the virus has already got tired and gone elsewhere. Bye bye. Despite of this, owr sanitay system, free and serious, it is one of the best ones in Europe. I know, it seems to be a paradox.

Italian Hospital under costruction. They started to built it the day after the birth of my grandma 

This is the right moment to remember the biblical seven plagues of Egypt, in order to understand which have actually happened worldwide:

- Transmutation of water into blood (in progress, given all the wars that are around, let's think of Syria);

- Invasion of the frogs (not yet happened, as far as I know);

- Rain of fire and ice (I would say that the increase in world temperatures and fires in Australia could fall into the first category);

- Invasion of the locusts (in progress in Africa and the Middle East);

- Darkness (the closure of Italian schools is comparable);

- Death of the male firstborn (fortunately I have a girl, but I really hope not to get there).

An Italian wainting for the last plague of Egypt

In short, while waiting for frogs to rain from the sky, we Italians continue to wash or hands at least for 20 seconds every time we touch something or someone (actually, when spend the day washing our hands), to look at us with suspicion, to look for the greaser while all the other peoples of the planet make fun of us, especially the French cousins ​​(any reference to the cleanliness of the French, as well as that of other European peoples, compared to the Italians, is superfluous. As far as I know, only the Portuguese in Europe are more fixed with hygiene than we are and Lisbon sweepers work day and night).

Some European countries have no bidet. This is the reason why my father never goes there, he says.

For now, I pass and close. The diary of quasi-contagion will perhaps continue, with new apocalyptic news. Meanwhile, my daughter and I are here to bake sweets, comb dolls and exercise indoors in order not to put on too many extra pounds.

Regards

Silvia

Ps. Now there is a rumor that the first European to be infected with the coronavirus would be a German. Many Italians rejoice, they feel relieved that the guilty does not hide among them. For me, it is further confirmation of the fact that we Italians never succeed in war. Not even the bacteriological one.

President Mattarella don't do that, please

PPS. The first image refers to a known type of Italian biscuits, the Abbracci (Hugs), replaced, in an era of contagion in which a distance of at least one meter from each other is recommended, by the most reasonable Saluti (Greetings).

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