posted by like_that
All is well with my wife and I, thanks for asking. I've been meaning to provide an update here to give you all some perspective, but every fucking day there seems to be a new layer to this. Anyway, it has been a very interesting and unique experience so far to say the least. I will follow up with a detailed post soon.
Been awhile since I was supposed to follow-up on this, so I realize a lot has changed in the states.
Just a heads up I am in Southern Italy, which so far (fingers crossed) has not been hit as hard as the north. I don't even know where to begin, but I will start with the fact I think there is a good chance I already had Wuhan. About 4 weeks ago half of my office was out sick (including me). We were all out of the office sick for a week. I had a fever (woke up a couple nights in full sweat), my chest felt tight with restricted breathing (still doesn't feel 100%), and I was coughing. Most of my office had the same symptoms. Either we all had a bad flu or we had Wuhan. If you're wondering why nobody went to get tested 1. we are in south Italy where at this time nobody was taking it as seriously as the north, where it is/was being hit hard and 2. there really isn't/wasn't anywhere to get tested. Two weekends ago while we were out (the last weekend nothing was shut down in Italy) we received notification that somebody in our building tested positive for Wuhan. Their office isn't next to us, but obviously it was very close to home. There are several people in my office (who I work closely with) that were put on an official 14 day quarantine, because they were in a meeting with this individual. Don't ask me why people like me weren't put on quarantine since we were also near the people who were near this guy. My office has been a fucking clown show since this whole thing began.
Anyway, the last weekend we were out we started to notice changes. There were already some restrictions in the south at this point. All schools were closed, groups of more than 6 were forbidden, a 1-2 meter distance between everyone was required, service at the bar was not allowed (had to be table service), and in general we could tell there weren't many people out (probably because of the fear). At this point, it still didn't hit us how real this was. On Sunday night the prime minister at 10 PM announced a full lockdown, but allowed restaurants/cafes to be open from 8AM-6PM and all essentials to be open as long as they want (groceries, pharmacies, work, hospitals, butchers, etc). The next Monday night at 10PM the PM announced further restrictions not allowing anything to be open except for the essentials. Now we are required to carry a signed declaration form that states we have not knowingly tested positive for wuhan virus and we were out of outside of our homes for one of the following: groceries/health reasons (including outdoor individual exercise)/work. If you get caught going out for any other reason the first offense is a 600 euro and allegedly the second offense is another fine or potential jail. You need a separate form for each excuse. So far it is day 13, and all I can say it sucks. You just have to embrace the suck. I haven't been stopped by any cops yet, probably because they know I am not Italian and don't want to do it. Whenever I go out to exercise I carry my form and my ID. As far as I can tell, the grocery stories and butchers here are nowhere near the crazy shit going on in the states. Any time we go to the or grocery store or butcher it is fully stocked. They limit the amount of people in for crowd control, so sometimes there is a line, but once you get in it is pretty chill and easy to get anything you want. Most Italians shop for their food daily. They don't drive to the grocery stores, so nobody is filling up 2 super sized grocery carts to take to their cars. There is also plenty of toilet paper. Most apartments and houses here have bidets in their bathrooms. Two of our bathrooms have bidets. So, even if we ran out of toilet paper, we would just use the bidets lol. I am still going to the office. Our office is requiring a 40% manned office, so we are starting a telework rotational program. It's bullshit, and has been quite the clown show. The prime minister of Italy is also a fucking idiot BTW. I want to become a citizen just so I can vote against him. The original lockdown is supposed to go until April 3, and he is already contemplating extending it to May 1. It hasn't even been two weeks. Considering it takes up to 14 days to possible test positive, how about wait and see if your fucking original lockdown works? Also, if anyone is wondering why there are a lot of deaths in Italy, it's because 26% of the population is 65 and above. The median age of deaths is 80 years old. Italy also has a very family oriented culture. Italians are spending time with their entire family at least once a week. They are at the very least definitely having Sunday lunch with nonna. It's just a terrible recipe for this virus. I am not saying this to downplay the deaths, because regardless of age this is somebody's mother/father/grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle/etc passing away, but when you see in the news the number of deaths at least be realistic about it.
The good news with the US is I think the US (maybe not California) got a 2 weeks head start at it. Be ready for a spike in numbers, but just remember that was expected. At least the US didn't wait until there were 10K+ cases in one region, before doing something. Speaking from a 13 day lock down, you just gotta take this thing day by day. Hang in there and just be prepared to embrace for the suck. Expect changes, but also be realistic if you look at wuhan virus numbers. Pick up some new hobbies (i.e. try some new recipes) or read some books. This whole thing really hit us on the first weekend without the routine of work and all the free time. Also, facetime/skype has been awesome, especially during a time where we all want to be close with family and friends. We have been drinking and facetiming with friends and family. It's not 100% the same, but it feels like it is close to the same thing and helps warm up the day. I am sure I am missing a lot on this summary of what is going on, but I will try to be more active on here.
Anyway, FUCK China btw. I hated China well before this, but this makes them enemy #1 above the Steelers (shout out Ironman) and GSW. I hope the whole world turns against China. They deserve all the blame before anybody (side blame to the EU and their open borders bullshit, but I won't get into that). Any useful idiot trying to act like the US started this shit or tries to defend China can go fuck themselves, seriously.