Now with family in Northern Italy, I watch the news and in particular the rising number of reported cases of that virus almost on the hour.
And today we got the announcement that we had expected that all of Lombardy and 14 provinces were in isolation.*
I am the first to acknowledge that the 24-hour news culture we now live in means that there is little escape from the incessant coverage, and in turn that can add to people’s concern and the perception that we are living in dangerous times.
But then some of us are ………….. if like me you were born in the first half of the last century, and can count as one of your vivid memories, the Cuban Missile Crisis, longed for a Davey Crocket hat and know exactly at what moment to throw away a jubly.
So, I view the current events with a little trepidation and try to cheer myself up by taking the long view.
I could slide back to the Hong Kong Flu epidemic of 1968-69, the Spanish Influenzas pandemic in the aftermath of the Great War, or of course be really cheery and fasten on the Black Death.
I was clearly not alive for either of the last two, and recollect that the Hong Kong epidemic was not something I was over bothered with, leaving me with the small pox outbreak of 1961-2, which I remember because of the mass vaccinations of school children of which I was one.
I read every day that I should stay calm, which I do, and wash my hands regularly, which I do, and I haven’t over bought on lavatory roll, but sadly have stopped shaking hands or kissing.
I wonder what my grand parents and parents would have thought about all this, given that they waved loved ones away to war, were drafted into essential war work, coped with rationing and shortages as well as dodging bombs.
Some, although not mine, will have agonized over sending their children out of the cities, or saying goodbye to a relative who would not return for the duration of the conflict.
Which beings me back to Italy and the uncertainty of whether some of the family will be able to return in this fast moving situation.
Italy is to be commended for the speed with which it has acted, and the degree to which it has introduced testing, which may be why their case numbers seem so high when compared to other countries.
And as ever I suspect there will be a story to write after it is all over.
Pictures; northern Italy on a sunny day in March
*la Repubblica, March 8, 2020
I am the first to acknowledge that the 24-hour news culture we now live in means that there is little escape from the incessant coverage, and in turn that can add to people’s concern and the perception that we are living in dangerous times.
But then some of us are ………….. if like me you were born in the first half of the last century, and can count as one of your vivid memories, the Cuban Missile Crisis, longed for a Davey Crocket hat and know exactly at what moment to throw away a jubly.
I could slide back to the Hong Kong Flu epidemic of 1968-69, the Spanish Influenzas pandemic in the aftermath of the Great War, or of course be really cheery and fasten on the Black Death.
I was clearly not alive for either of the last two, and recollect that the Hong Kong epidemic was not something I was over bothered with, leaving me with the small pox outbreak of 1961-2, which I remember because of the mass vaccinations of school children of which I was one.
I read every day that I should stay calm, which I do, and wash my hands regularly, which I do, and I haven’t over bought on lavatory roll, but sadly have stopped shaking hands or kissing.
 |
| As reported in la Repubblica |
Some, although not mine, will have agonized over sending their children out of the cities, or saying goodbye to a relative who would not return for the duration of the conflict.
Italy is to be commended for the speed with which it has acted, and the degree to which it has introduced testing, which may be why their case numbers seem so high when compared to other countries.
And as ever I suspect there will be a story to write after it is all over.
Pictures; northern Italy on a sunny day in March
*la Repubblica, March 8, 2020
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