In Italy today:
Number of cases: 92,472
Number of deaths: 10,023
Number recovered: 12,384
Number of cases in Sicily: 1359
Today I am going to let a couple of Italian friends do the post for me. The first is from an online friend that I have known for about 8 years. She lives in the worst hit area in Italy – Bergamo – an area just outside of Milan. Her sister and father are there as well. This is a post that she made on Facebook, and she gave me permission to post it here.
Irene Bozzetto
And now there seems to be one more reason why Bergamo and Lombardia have been suffering 90% deaths and new infections (it’s becoming almost ordinary for us to see friends losing one parent, relatives, friends, colleagues.. too many and too many in their 60’s). Shortly before the outbreak, there was a soccer match between Atalanta and Valencia. 40.000 Bergamasks and Spanish gathered up in Milan. U can imagine! A coincidence? 180 ppl a day still keep dying here in Bergamo. People we know walked into a hospital for a silly injury and they never came out again after getting COVID-19. Our graveyards don’t hold it anymore. Nobody understands that an overwhelmed NHS means also thousands of ppl ill with other diseases being necessarily ignored. And the world has been watching Italy since last month without doing anything or getting ready. I’m speechless.
The second is from one of my very best friends who lives here in Cianciana. While we may not be in a real hotspot for the virus, she has an immediate and very frightening reason for wanting people to follow the rules of the lockdown strictly. Before Italy was locked down, her son had emergency lung surgery in Palermo. He was released early from the hospital because they were preparing the hospital for the wave of COVID-19 patients that were about to be flown down on military planes. This is a post she made in a group for people from Burnley in the UK where she grew up. She has also given me permission to post this.
Franca and her husband, Tano, in happier times.
Franca Tamburello
Hello everyone in Burnley. Read very carefully what I am writing here. I was born in Bolton and at two months old my family moved to Burnley and I grew up there until I was 18 years old. Then i moved to Sicily, the south of Italy where i got married. I’ve been here since 1982. I still love Burnley and I miss it a lot and I care for everyone’s health. I want to talk about Covid-19 (coronavirus). Now just listen very carefully and please, please no one go against what I am saying. Here in Italy, things are really bad; it started up in the north of Italy and the authorities isolated so many towns up north to try to block this virus. This virus is a very serious thing, do not undervalue it. It is not the normal flu. It’s worse. It will hit anyone who comes in contact with it, or good, or bad. Over here it’s more bad than good. I am shocked to hear that your prime minister didn’t block his borders when the virus hit China at the very beginning, where it all started. Italy stopped all flights to and from China but we got it just the same. It came into my country and in it spread out quickly, from the north down south. The night before the total isolation up north, total lockdown, thousands of northerners escaped coming down south to their families, infecting all their love ones. Those that didn’t know they were infected went out doing shopping and meeting friends and infecting them and so on. In the south of Italy, we aren’t equipped in hospitals for major emergencies and we’re all dreading it. My town is in self-isolation for 2 weeks now and thank God we haven’t a case of Covid 19 infection. In my town Cianciana, in the province of Agrigento has only 3000 people – Sicilians and a lot of ex-pats who have bought houses here from all over the world. We all have documentation that we must carry for our movement; to the shops, for work, for health care. Only one member of the family is allowed out for our needs. We’re not allowed to hang out anymore and, believe me, we have all taken it really seriously, seeing on the news the thousands of deaths up north. Yesterday we had over 900 deaths in one day; that is the most so far only in one day. We have surpassed China in deaths. So far Italy has had 10,023 deaths – today will be more. In the hospitals up north, all doctors and nurses and volunteers are working day and night and they are really exhausted. People in intensive care units cannot see their loved ones, they are completely isolated from their family. It could be their father, mother, sister, brother. You cannot hold their hands while they are dying, no assuring them with nice loving words – saying “It’s ok, I’m here with you” etc. No, all by themselves. Those that have died get put in a coffin to be taken straight away to the cemetery. The family can’t see them at all, no funeral, nothing at all. And that is horrible for everyone. This is a very contagious flu. In the beginning, this flu will start as a normal flu, then it gets your lungs and the next minute you know that person is on a breathing machine in the intensive care unit because they can’t breathe and they are fighting for their lives. It’s not true that only hits old people or those who have serious health problems. It can hit anyone, even those who are 100 percent healthy. So, all of you, please listen to what I am saying and self-isolate. Your house is clean? It’s not enough – sanitize continuously – all counters, tables, chairs, etc. Always wash and sanitize your hands. Do not scratch your nose, or put your fingers in your mouth or rub your eye’s, use a tissue then throw it away. Do not hug, do not kiss. Please it’s for your own good. This isn’t a simple flu, it’s more aggressive. If everyone is still out and about in England, you will never get rid of it. Self-isolate yourselves now to try and block this virus. THIS IS A SILENT WAR!!! Do not undervalue it. Give my advice to everyone or copy and paste it to everyone. PLEASEEEEE!!! Take care, everyone. I miss and care about Burnley, especially my sister Tanina and her boyfriend Paul and my friend Sandra. Love to everyone and God help us all
My Sicilian Home 