Coronavirus in Italy: Update

Coronavirus in Italy: Update

The blogger who banned Zio Lorenzo recently for comments calling out his hypocrisy asked his readers to report their current situations regarding the pandemic and its effects on their lives. Since Zio is banned, he'll report here instead:

We pointed out we were not going outside to ride bikes just-for-fun even before the lockdown began here in Sicily and suggested our friends act in solidarity with their fellow cyclists. More than a few replied with comments like "Well, if I were in Italy now, I'd be doing the same, but in my state there are no cases...." and worse.

While they seemed to grasp the concept that places like NYC were overwhelmed with Covid-19 while their state, whether it was New Mexico or Iowa was seeing no effects, the idea that Sicily might be more like NM or IA than Lombardy in Italy's north was lost on them. Further, the idea of solidarity with those required to stay inside was also lost on them, some of them acted as if the infections in other areas were somehow the fault of their citizens - too old, too many smokers, etc. or their healthcare system.

We tried to point out that it was only a matter of time before they would see the same infection and death rates unless some serious social-distancing and testing measures were embraced, but it fell on deaf ears. Are they getting the hint now?

At present Sicily, with 5 million inhabitants has just over 3 thousand reported cases of Covid-19 and 250+ deaths. New Mexico, despite having just 2 million inhabitants currently has 5 thousand cases and over 200 deaths while Iowa with 3 million inhabitants has 12 thousand cases and 270+ deaths. Sicily's numbers are going down while both NM and IA's are going up, up, up.

Meanwhile, the USA currently leads the world in Covid-19 infections and deaths despite having less than 5% of the world's population but Russia and Brazil, two other countries that failed to take this pandemic seriously, are gaining quickly. So much winning!

We're now in week 2 of phase 2, the first easing of our lockdown while these US states are either easing even further or never had a stay-at-home rule of any kind. Other than going out for rides most days our lockdown routine has stayed the same: one grocery store visit per week + one visit to the outdoor fruit and vegetable market + quick trips out every other day for fresh bread and drinking water. 
Otherwise it's: Stay home. Stay safe.

So stay safe, stay home, unless going out is really necessary, no matter how well (or badly) your government is doing in the fight against the coronavirus.

We're ALL in this together!