Italy shuts nearly all shops amid virus

[SameerluvAnimals]

Quote:Italy shuts nearly all shops as WHO declares pandemic. Italy is to close all shops except food stores and pharmacies in Europe's toughest lockdown yet as virus deaths and cases continue to mount.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said bars, restaurants, hairdressers and non-essential company departments would also close.

The country has already closed schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country. It has more than 12,000 confirmed cases and a death toll of 827.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51845817


The whole of Italy has been put on lockdown ? I didn't expected that this is such a serious problem. I noted a post from an Italian who mentioned that other Western countries didn't take this news seriously as the death rate is more. He said that some people think that only elder people get coronavirus which is not the case as he has seen younger people getting admitted in hospital as well. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and short of beds. 

While these kinds of problems are going on, there are still some people who spread some lies. One of them is a false claim about a vaccine you can buy which cures coranavirus and it was made in Australia and the only country that bought it is Switzerland.   

One Italian fact-checking site which picked up on the story said "a vaccine does not exist, but what does exist are people who enjoy spreading lies."


Last time the fires in Australia killed billions of animals and now the coronavirus. Seems like more bad things are happening recently. I hope Italy gets better.

[Catslave]

Italy is turning away people over a certain age from the hospitals,they have the oldest population in the world Japan is second,we don't want people to panic but don't underestimate it either we have prior warning don't make the mistakes other places did start being pro active.

[Catherine]

Toronto has just shut its schools for the next three weeks or longer. The soccer(football), basketball and hockey games have been suspended. I have three sets of emails in my inbox explaining virus protocols. Quite simply, wash you hands and don't touch your face.
Our Prime Minister and his wife are now quarantined.
I am sure there is more to come.

Italy has had to take drastic measures to bring things under control. I am hoping we have contained it much sooner.

[LPC]

Canada has acted quickly and wisely. This virus is spreading worldwide, but it has a "rippling" effect, with some countries being first hit and then recovering a few months later. The countries which have not been hit hard yet are often slow to act preventively until it is too late.

[Catherine]

Toronto is a major outbreak location because of our big international airport. Ontario has  19 new cases today and  79 in total with many more under investigation. Most are in Toronto.

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/o...d-19-cases

Our mayor and our prime minister are in quarantine.
The city has shut down until April. Libraries and museums are shut down. Theatres, movies, the ballet have all shut down. Sports, including hockey has shut down. City recreation centres have shut down. The zoo is closed to the public. The schools are closed for at least three weeks. Many events are cancelled. Any gathering of over 250 people is banned.
People in the city are afraid. There is panic buying in the grocery stores. 

The next few weeks could be rough, but it is necessary that we do this. 

Other cities in Canada are doing the same.

I am still working, but I am practicing extreme measures to prevent bringing the infection to the people I serve.
I am ready to deal with being quarantined. I picked up enough supplies for my animals.  I have enough supplies for myself too.

[LPC]

Stay safe, Catherine! Here, because of my mother's extreme age we are avoiding as much contact with other humans as possible.

[Catherine]

Quote:Stay safe, Catherine! Here, because of my mother's extreme age we are avoiding as much contact with other humans as possible.

You are very wise. Avoiding contact is the only way to stop transmission. 

Our grocery stores are going to have to impose limits on how much of something a person can buy. I think they may need to limit how many people they allow in the stores. I understand in the big malls the small stores have closed. They may even close the malls.
Nursing homes, and seniors homes are now closed  except for essential visitors. Hospitals may close too. Some hospitals were in lockdown during the SARS crisis. We are more organized this time, but people are panicking more. What is with the toilet paper thing?
People are buying toilet paper as if their lives depended on it.

[Tobi]

Stay safe everyone  

This is going to affect animals in many ways too. A Spanish animal rescue who depend on donations have put a video out asking us not to forget the rescue animals. They try their best to save all the animals in their care, rather than put them to sleep when they are badly injured etc, but have expensive vet bills to pay constantly.

And they adopt all over Europe, allowing new spaces in their rescue for newcomers.

But in this crisis, such things have become either impossible or harder. The animals still get vet care, but they will be running up debts. One cannot ask the vets who perform life saving and complex surgeries to work for nothing.

I stocked up with many essentials back in January when I first heard of the Wuhan outbreak. But of course there are always things one didn't think of! Or certain fresh foods needed..

The major supermarkets are still running online delivery services here, and there is even an arrangement people can make to cut out contact with others, if self quarantining, whereby the food is delivered in bags, left on the porch/doorstep, and then the customer is contacted via phone call, to check that they receieved it and all is well.

But....the online deliveries are suddenly booked up at least 10 days in advance. That has happened during the last week.

[Catherine]

Tobi, it is a good thing you were stocked up with general supplies. There must be more people getting deliveries.
Fresh food may be hard to get if this goes on too long.
You shouldn't be too badly at risk where you are. It seems to spread from people who return from traveling.

It must be very rough for the shelters in places like Spain and Italy. They may be able to care for animals, but they won't be able to move them from one place to another. 

We have many new cases every day in Toronto. Anywhere where people gather is now closed. I went out for a walk tonight and the streets were bare. The air was also very clear. There have been so few cars for days now. There was no traffic and very few people walking. I have never seen it like this.

I am prepared with foods for myself and my animals. I am prepared to be very careful when I go to work. Last I heard, I am still going to work. That could change. I could end up quarantined, but I can make that work for me. I will just do stuff for myself at home.
This is totally weird.

Hopefully this will pass soon enough and life can go back to normal.

[LPC]

In communist China, where everything is under direct governmental control, it has taken several months for the rate of new infections to level off. The curve of infections there will start to drop from now on. So in practice, this means that in a totalitarian regime, where near total lockdown was enforced, we are talking about five months at the least.

In democratic countries, it is much harder to enforce total lockdowns. It can be done, but emergency legislation is needed first. So in general, we should expect the virus to last until the autumn at least.

Here in France, all shops and restaurants have been forced to close (wisely, IMHO) as of last weekend. Only food stores and other essential shops are allowed to stay open.

The UK, sadly, has been slow and weak in its response so far. The prospects for the USA do not look good, either - partly because Trump refused to use the WHO tests and insisted on an American alternative being developed. This slowed identification and isolation of those infected.

Animals will suffer indirectly, too, as Tobi has rightly pointed out.