MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-10-01 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Italy and the second wave - analysis and
|
In the below article, it tries to do an analysis of why Italy is having
resistance to a second wave and it speculates about its mask usage as a
contribution (although mask usage is greater in Spain and they are
having a real tough time of it, so what the fuck they are talking about,
I don't know).
Within this article is one of the most important observations about the
COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on our political and social fabric.
And within that, it underscores why any freedom loving and reason persom
must resist mandatory masking,
The (3) paragraph is as follow:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Infections in Europe are rebounding partly because millions of people
have grown tired of social-distancing rules, mask-wearing and
hand-sanitizing, and have relaxed their behavior, health experts said.
The public’s fatigue and yearning to get back to normal life are two of
the greatest challenges facing governments as they try to keep a lid on
infections as winter approaches.
Experts had hoped that mask-wearing and keeping a distance would become
everyday habits, at least as long as Covid-19 remains a public-health
threat. East Asian societies such as South Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore
have been the model for widespread acceptance of such precautions.
That has proved a tougher sell in Western nations with less experience
containing viral outbreaks and especially in politically polarized
countries where face masks have become another focal point for
antiestablishment anger. Protests against mask-wearing and government
restrictions have drawn fewer people in Rome than in Berlin or London.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would rather be DEAD that to live as these "experts" perfer, masked
for life, and afraid to hold hands, to talk and have a meal indoors, to
sit in a stadium or a theater. I told my sister when this first began
and she thought I was nots. These FUCKERS want us to conform to a
modality of life that is what totalitarian far eastern societies have
adapted to. They can go fuck themselves and anyone who supports this,
including the current Democratic Presidential canidate who insists that
upon his election he will have a nation manadory mask executive order.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-covid-fatigue-fuels-infections-in-europe-italy-resists-the-second-wave-11600772400
wsj.com
As Covid-19 Fatigue Fuels Infections in Europe, Italy Resists Second Wave
Eric Sylvers in Milan and Margherita Stancati in Rome | Photographs by
Marzio Emilio Villa for The Wall Street Journal
11-14 minutes
Months after Italy’s lockdown against the coronavirus ended, Enrica
Grazioli still sanitizes everything that comes into her Milan apartment,
wears face masks diligently and limits interactions between her sons and
their grandparents.
Ms. Grazioli, a self-proclaimed social butterfly who loves to cook for
guests, still hasn’t had friends over for dinner since the virus struck.
“Am I overdoing it?” says Ms. Grazioli. “Maybe, but we had a national
tragedy of epic proportions and you don’t quickly forget something like
that.”
Italy, the first nation outside Asia to suffer a major coronavirus
outbreak, had one of the world’s worst death tolls this spring.
Overflowing hospitals in parts of northern Italy had to choose which
patients got the last intensive-care beds. The Italian army drove
truckloads of victims out of the city of Bergamo, which couldn’t cope
with the dead.
That shocking experience helps explain why Italy is so far having
greater success than many other European countries in limiting the
pandemic’s second wave.
Infections in Europe are rebounding partly because millions of people
have grown tired of social-distancing rules, mask-wearing and
hand-sanitizing, and have relaxed their behavior, health experts said.
The public’s fatigue and yearning to get back to normal life are two of
the greatest challenges facing governments as they try to keep a lid on
infections as winter approaches.
Experts had hoped that mask-wearing and keeping a distance would become
everyday habits, at least as long as Covid-19 remains a public-health
threat. East Asian societies such as South Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore
have been the model for widespread acceptance of such precautions.
That has proved a tougher sell in Western nations with less experience
containing viral outbreaks and especially in politically polarized
countries where face masks have become another focal point for
antiestablishment anger. Protests against mask-wearing and government
restrictions have drawn fewer people in Rome than in Berlin or London.
But both Italy’s left-leaning national government and right-leaning
opposition, which governs northern Italian regions that were badly hit
by the virus, cooperated in containing the worst phase of the pandemic.
Across Italy, masks are mandatory in indoor public places, on public
transport and outdoors in crowded areas.
Many Italians, such as these in Milan, have embraced the use of face
masks or moved indoor activities outdoors, even when it isn't compulsory.
In Italy, the new precautions have become a widespread part of everyday
life, more than in many other Western countries. Millions of Italians
continue to wear masks outdoors, even when it isn’t obligatory, and
carry hand sanitizer.
New habits and a relatively effective test-and-trace regime have helped
Italy to limit the rise of infections since August. Increases in Europe
have been driven by people traveling on their summer vacations and by
more relaxed attitudes among young people who wanted to return to
socializing.
Over the past week, Italy detected an average of under 1,500 infections
a day, compared with about 3,700 in the U.K., 10,400 in France and
10,500 in Spain.
“People were very afraid in March and April and that has an effect on
short-term behavior, but it’s not clear how long it will last,” said
Guendalina Graffigna, a psychology professor at Milan’s Catholic
University. “We’re a Mediterranean country and often we act on our
emotions more than in other countries.”
Giovanni Ferrante , a 30-year-old building manager from Rome, is among
those who are being extra careful. When he visited his family in
southern Italy over the summer, he self-quarantined for two weeks on
arrival to avoid potentially infecting them, though it wasn’t required
by Italy’s rules and he had no symptoms.
“There is a bit of fear and because of that we behave appropriately,”
said Mr. Ferrante, who was walking in central Rome wearing an N95 face
mask, which provides more protection than a surgical mask.
Nearby, a bank put up a sign telling clients to stop applying hand
sanitizer to its ATM keyboard because it was causing damage.
Shoppers and churchgoers in Milan. Across Italy, face masks are
mandatory in indoor public places, on public transport and outdoors in
crowded areas.
About 85% of Italians said they wear a mask in public places, more than
anywhere else in Europe except for Spain, which is now battling Europe’s
biggest outbreak, according to a coronavirus behavior survey by Imperial
College London and YouGov. Italians are also more likely to say they
avoid crowded public places than most other Europeans, according to the
survey, which was updated last week.
It isn’t just about individual behavior. Italy has done a better job
than most at detecting infected people through its testing and tracing
regime. Over two-thirds of Italians who tested positive for the
coronavirus in recent weeks were identified not because they had
symptoms, but through contact tracing and widespread screening tests,
according to the National Health Institute.
Some Italians said they have been cautious about interacting with the
at-risk older generation.
The percentage of tests that come back positive—a measure of whether
testing is sufficiently comprehensive—is 2.1% in Italy, higher than it
was in June but lower than in most of Europe, according to official
data. A low positivity rate indicates that testing is widespread and not
restricted to people who show symptoms. The World Health Organization
recommends a positivity rate of 5% or less as a condition for reopening.
The percentage of positive tests is lower still in Lombardy, the
epicenter of Italy’s pandemic, according to the regional government.
In Spain, by comparison, government data shows 11.9% of tests are
positive, suggesting many infections go undetected.
Italian authorities fear infections could rise more strongly as a result
of the reopening of schools on Sept. 14, and as fall weather leads
Italians to spend more time indoors again. Italy was the first Western
country to close its schools and was among the last to reopen them.
Italian schools have reorganized their classrooms to ensure social
distancing, sometimes splitting up classes or moving them to other
buildings.
In the Milan school attended by Ms. Grazioli’s two sons, some classes
are held in the cafeteria, where there is more space, and lunch is
served in the classrooms. Face masks are required except when students
are seated. There is no interaction between classes, so that if a
student tests positive for the virus, their class is quarantined at
home, but the school stays open.
A Milan school cafeteria and student lineup. Italy reopened schools last
week, among the last in Europe to do so, with strict regulations.
Despite the precautions, several classes were quarantined across Italy
in the first week after reopening. Administrators at Ms. Grazioli’s
school are waiting for test results from several students who turned up
with fevers and coughs.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Will Italy’s cautious approach be enough to avoid a resurgence of
infections in the fall and winter? Join the conversation below.
As schools reopen and children begin to socialize again, scientists say
a priority for Italian families should be to keep the young away from
the old. Ilaria Capua , an Italian virologist at the University of
Florida, warned that big family dinners—part of the fabric of Italian
life—are especially risky.
“Families need to organize themselves differently: grandparents are
still vulnerable,” she said. “Intergenerational segregation is key.”
That has placed many Italian parents in a pickle as they manage the
interactions between their elderly parents and school-age children.
After school hours, many Italian grandparents look after children whose
parents are working. Three-generation households are common.
Mirko Marin of Milan, recalling Italy’s difficult spring, advised
heeding rules to limit the spread of the virus.
But there are signs that Italy’s grandparents have absorbed the lessons
of the pandemic.
“I hear lots of grandparents saying, ‘If you don’t really need me, I
think I won’t pick up the children for now,’ ” said Ms. Grazioli. “I
still have to see what my parents are comfortable with.”
Young adults are much less attentive to the rules than their parents and
grandparents, a problem that came to light this summer as infections
surged among people in their 20s and 30s. The generational divide
continues in September as balmy weather draws crowds of mask-free
20-somethings to bars and restaurants.
On a recent Saturday evening, Mirko Marin, who works in corporate
relations at Milan’s Polytechnic University, headed out to the city’s
trendy Navigli canal district for a stroll with his wife and three
children. They quickly returned home when they saw the crowds.
“During the day the rules are respected, and then at night the young
people suddenly forget what happened in March and April,” said Mr.
Marin. “We have to remember so we never live that nightmare again.”
How Tourism Drove Europe’s Second Wave of Covid-19
0:00 / 3:30
3:18
How Tourism Drove Europe’s Second Wave of Covid-19
How Tourism Drove Europe’s Second Wave of Covid-19
As European countries cope with a second wave of infections, data
indicate that tourism has helped the coronavirus spread in popular
destinations and travelers’ home countries. WSJ explains how summer
travel has made it harder to control the pandemic. Photo: Damir
Sencar/Agence France Press
Write to Eric Sylvers at eric.sylvers-at-wsj.com and Margherita Stancati at
margherita.stancati-at-wsj.com
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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