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Traveller’s Tales

Guest post by Jo Dolan

Io resto a Casa

Andrà Tutto Bene

(everything will be alright)

Hi my name is Jo Dolan and I am a Londoner living in Padova

On Friday the 21st February 2020, our lives were to change. We had some friends over for dinner and we all suddenly started to receive messages from friends with the news that someone in Vo’, a village in the beautiful Colli Euganea, had died of the Coronavirus. By the Saturday the whole village had been put into two weeks of quarantine. Everybody was tested and those who tested positive had to remain in total isolation. The ones who tested negative had to remain within the village. There were very strict controls and there were police manning all exits/ entrances to the village. We have family in Vo, who had tested negative but were obviously still in quarantine. We FaceTimed them during that time and they were incredibly down and felt quite victimized. One of my aunts was very distressed and crying. We also know two other people from that village who tested positive for the virus. They had had very few symptoms, just a cough and they probably wouldn’t have even gone to the doctor. They had just been routinely tested along with all the other people of Vo’.

My parents-in-law live at the penultimate house before the barrier, in a village called Teolo and they have a business selling meat. The majority of their clients are from the restaurants currently closed in Vo’. One day during this time they had a call from one of the residents of Vo’ asking for a delivery of meat which they had to hand across the barrier to the police, whilst the resident stood about 20 metres away on the other side, waving and shouting their thanks.

That first week the schools were immediately closed and all sporting events, carnival parties, cinemas and museums were cancelled. However there was still an element of normality, in the sense that people were still going to restaurants and bars. There was a definite decrease in people out and about, but the centre of Padova was still full of people and you saw very few face masks. All the restaurants and even the tram had hand sanitizer which people were using, but they were still going about their everyday life.

Last week, the second week was pretty much the same. The children were still off school and they were assigned work to do at home. I have two children and our days have consisted of school work in the mornings and usually one of their friends coming over in the afternoon, or them going to a friend. We had been going over to visit their grandparents and we also went for a walk along the beach in Sottomarina and Chioggia one day. There were obviously lots of quite scared people, but a lot of people that I know were quite relaxed about it and not panicking too much.

This week however is a different story. On Sunday Padova was declared a Red Zone ‘ Zona Rossa’ which obviously immediately sounds incredibly alarming. This means that nobody can come into Padova or leave Padova and travel must be restricted. Bars, restaurants and shopping centres are open in the day until 6pm only and are closed at weekends. The virus is still spreading at a huge speed and there are lots of messages being sent around from medics, begging us to just stay at home and only leave the house for work or emergency purposes. All companies now have to issue their employees with a document to carry with them stating their motive for travelling.

Although the virus might not be severe for most people, it is highly contagious. Most of the intensive care patients need to be on ventilators and the medical staff simply don’t have enough to cope with all the patients.

Of course the economical impact is huge and I think every single business is being affected by this. It is also a huge strain on families where both parents work, as the children are in their third week of being at home and it looks as if they won’t be going back for at least another month, if not more. The schools are still issuing work to do at home and many have online lessons, being done by their teachers. I teach drama and my lessons are currently suspended, so I am able to be with my kids. My husband is going to work as usual. Lots of people that I know are working from home, as the offices don’t really want them to come in if they don’t have to.

Suddenly the people that were more relaxed about all of this are taking it a lot more seriously and many people are putting their Facebook status as ‘Io resto a Casa’; I am staying at home. We simply have to adapt to these extreme circumstances, to do whatever we can to reduce the risk of it spreading. I have to say that for a country that is often quite dis-organized, I have been really surprised and impressed by the actions of the government and I feel as if I am in very good hands.

I don’t know what the next few weeks will bring, but one thing that I have felt from this time is a real sense of community. Even though much of it is via messages or phone calls, people are reaching out to each other. I am a member of a fabulous group called The International Ladies of Padova and through our Facebook group and WhatsApp Groups, we have all been in constant contact with useful information and positive words. One of the members had the great idea of us all listing where we live, so that if anyone were to become ill, we would know who is nearby that could get them medicine or shopping etc. We certainly feel united in this, at such a strange and scary time, for which I am very thankful.

We are still in a red zone and whilst writing this post my husband has just got home from work and informed me that he has been asked to work from home for at least two weeks. I have also received from several friends, a video of the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, giving a speech, firmly telling us all to stay at home!

Jo Dolan, Padova

Originally posted in The Oxford Padova Link (12 March)

© Image and text by Jo Dolan