
Italy's Coronavirus Lockdown Upends the Most Basic Routines and Joys - ytNumbers
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Italy-s-coronavirus-lockdown-upends-the-most-15119948.php
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scaglio
Italian here, north-west. Media are really exaggerating with the situation
with daily life and routine, we are allowed to take a walk and go to bars or
restaurants if there is one meter of distance between people.

The real problem is in the hospitals, and for some enterprises who will really
have a loss in these weeks (everything about tourism, for example). One of the
biggest downsides is that people are not allowed to visit relatives or
families in other cities/villages, even if a few kilometers away.

We've been promised discounts, taxes, even free subscriptions for ebooks...
this lockdown is not so bad, the important is that people really understand
why it has been implemented (people here in Italy tend to overreact for
_every_ news - it's always apocalyptic).

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jlokier
> One of the biggest downsides is that people are not allowed to visit
> relatives or families in other cities/villages, even if a few kilometers
> away.

How does this affect people who depend on personal care from relatives and
friends to do daily activities like cooking, cleaning themselves and going to
the toilet?

~~~
scaglio
This is one of the very few reason for which you can move and assist relatives
out of your town.

~~~
jlokier
That's great to hear, thanks.

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vorpalhex
A lockdown is obviously not an enjoyable thing, but it is necessary to flatten
the curve [^1] and it's downsides are less severe then it's benefits if done
correctly.

Keep this in mind as the situation continues to evolve. Stock things in your
house which bring you joy (good food, games, good books) and do your best to
spread confidence to others around you. If you have enough space to get in
some exercise, even if it's just pushups and situps, do so. If you are working
from home, do your best to have a clearly defined time for your work and
separate your working space from your leisure space as much as practical. If
you've been thinking about writing a book or starting a new blog, now is a
good time to do so.

It may not be enjoyable but it is necessary. Make the best use of this time
you can.

[^1]: [https://www.flattenthecurve.com/](https://www.flattenthecurve.com/)

~~~
magicsmoke
Imagine if steam takes advantage of this to have a coronavirus sale. 50% off
all zombie themed games for the coming month.

~~~
dysosmia
It would probably be in bad taste to theme it so...on the nose, but I'd
believe that it's a good time to be releasing a fresh game right now. It's
certainly a terrible time for games in development, with work collaboration
maybe disrupted and with all the big publicity events getting cancelled, and
it's a bad time for other media that bank a lot on physical releases (e.g.
theatrical releases for movies getting pushed back), but the at-home media out
now could find an audience with more time than they otherwise might have.

~~~
bonzini
I don't think it would be in bad taste if it's clearly hyperbolic and perhaps
it is coupled with informational messages. PornHub is famous for doing this.

There's also a funeral services company in Rome whose death-themed ads have
become a meme ("don't worry antivaxers, we will always be ready to help if you
die"), we love it. :-)

~~~
saagarjha
Antivaxxers are generally not liked very much; it’s fairly “safe” to make fun
of them. Doing so for coronavirus when people have family members who may have
it is significantly less so.

~~~
bonzini
Too late:
[https://www.facebook.com/onoranzefunebritaffo/photos/a.79642...](https://www.facebook.com/onoranzefunebritaffo/photos/a.796425327129847/2581391841966511/?type=3&theater)

(translation: "stay at home or we will all end up in a box")

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jaclaz
As a side note, maybe the single restaurant manager interviewed does normally
that, but it is highly unusual that a restaurant manager hugs and/or kisses
(or even shakes hands) with a customer of the restaurant.

There is this sort of folklore about Italy that everyone kisses and hugs
everyone else.

This is simply not accurate.

If you are introduced to someone (a stranger), it is normal courtesy to shake
hands with him/her (and that's it, no hugs, no kisses), as well, unless the
other person is an old friend the normal shaking of hands is the normal means
of greeting.

It is extremely rare that you are touched (again let alone hugged or kissed)
as a customer when you enter any shop or similar.

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umvi
> If you are introduced to someone (a stranger), it is normal courtesy to
> shake hands with him/her (and that's it, no hugs, no kisses)

Are you sure you aren't extending the culture of northern Italy to all of
Italy?

When I lived in Rome/Naples, it seemed like with almost everyone I met we
shook hands and did the "air kisses" (not a real kiss but you still lean in
close and touch cheeks).

It didn't ever happen to me with restaurant owners, sure, but then again I
never really interacted with anyone other than the waiter/waitress/cashier. I
could see it happening in a super small hole-in-the-wall mom and pop type
restaurant though.

~~~
riffraff
I am from Rome, the cheek kiss is common amongst people who know each other,
and sometimes it applies "transitively" (e.g. a friend's partner which you
don't know), but it is definitely not done when meeting random people at work.

You could be kissing someone on the cheek coming in your restaurant if you are
familiar with them, but it's not very common.

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thefz
Another Italian here. The situation is far from dramatic. Yes, being forced at
home unless necessary is an inconvenience, but damn worth the risk of catching
the virus or worse infecting others. We can work from home, and this for many
of us is a first and indeed something we can leverage when things go back to
normal. We can still go to the doctor, or grocery shopping, bars and
restaurants are still open.

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burlesona
This kind of reporting seems counterproductive. A more helpful headline would
be something like, “In locked down Italy, life is mostly normal.” The body of
the article is OK, but the tone seems intentionally negative when the same
facts could easily have been presented hopefully.

One of my biggest concerns is that places in the United States, or other
countries, will adopt aggressive social distancing policies early, while the
number of cases is low, and then the backlash against those policies will be
that “this is hell, and the virus isn’t even affecting that many people.” That
can lead to pressure to drop the policies prematurely when the virus is
nowhere near contained yet.

This is a great opportunity for responsible journalism to strike a tone of
optimistic “we are all in this together, it is very serious, but if we all do
the right thing we should be OK.” Fear mongering on the one hand, or dismissal
and backlash on the other, are both extremely harmful — But good for Clickbait
and selling ads. We really need the media to resist that during this
emergency.

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brainpool
Well, what to expect? An uptick in pleasure and joy. No. This is serious
measures for serious times.

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dang
Ok, but can you please not post unsubstantive comments here?

