When Italy succumbed to lockdown in early March, one of the most frequently asked questions among worried Italians was, “Can I go to my parents’ house for lunch?”
The circle of relatives is at the center of Italian society. It is one of the nation’s enduring strengths, distinguishing it from other Western countries.
The world is rightly wondering why Italy has experienced such an exponential spread of COVID-19, which has already killed more than 20,000 people in the country. Tragically, the answer could lie in the warm affection and closeness of such a deep family. rooted in Italian life. Italian families have come together to combat COVID-19, but separation may now be the solution.
A non-peer-reviewed study from the University of Oxford looked at the role of demographics in the spread of coronavirus in other countries. It concludes that the high degree of intergenerational contact in Italy is partly to blame for the devastating number of deaths in the country, where the majority of those affected are over 60 years old.
Especially in the poorest and most rural areas, although fairly homogeneously throughout Italy, several generations of families live under the same roof. Grandparents take on the role of babysitters, and it’s not uncommon for young adults to stay at home with their parents, even in their thirties. The Oxford University study states that many Italians “prefer to live close to their extended family circle and commute to work. “
Existing isolation and social distancing measures force Italy’s 60 million people to stay at home unless they have a valid explanation for why they faint, such as for work, shopping or fitness. If they contract the virus, those restrictions can’t take into account adults who move to cities, combine with likely foreign colleagues, and then return home to vulnerable relatives who potentially bring the virus with them.
Elisa Borgato lives with her elderly parents in a small town in the province of Venice. Before his company implemented fleeing from home, he would go to the city of Padua for an hour every day to work. “I started to absolutely see other behaviors on the bus, other people who were quiet, unhappy, and with a shawl around their mouth,” she describes. “Everyone was hunting down or out the window, so we didn’t have to talk. “
Borgato admits that despite now working from home, she is still worried about infecting her parents. “I avoid going out if it’s not necessary, and I try to do all the trips in one day,” she explains. To cope with the mental strain of the situation she says, “I avoid listening to reports on the TV and instead concentrate on housework or online courses.”
A family celebrates on the balcony after eating for Easter Monday even in this period when … [+] Coronavirus (COVID-19) affects the whole world. They are in the family and therefore do not use masks and gloves to protect themselves from the virus infection. They also celebrate to overcome the fear of this pandemic. (Photo by Alfonso Di Vincenzo/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Even if young adults and their parents don’t live together, they maintain normal contact. Cristina Pozzato left her family home in a small town in Veneto. He visits his 86-year-old mother every day, but now he stands on the grass and talks to her through the window. “It’s hard not to hold her hand,” he says, “especially since she doesn’t understand why I can’t.
The preference for being with relatives this time would likely also have been to blame for the spread of the virus in the vulnerable south of the country, which is poorer than the north and less supplied to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.
In late February, the Italian government began to increase containment measures, starting with locking down the Lombardy region and 14 provinces in the North. Unfortunately, this decision backfired as the draft decree for the Lombardy lockdown was leaked on social media the night before, prompting many southerners living there to scramble to board the last trains to the South and join their families. In abandoning the northern region, many of those people could have unwittingly carried the virus to friends and relatives in the South.
It is frustrating to see that lockdown is proving to be a less effective strategy in Italy than in other countries. Instead of protecting the most vulnerable, it has resulted in the confinement of other generations of families, both young and old. Franco Locatelli, president of the Italian Health Council, recently warned of the threat within the family and implored families to introduce their own distance within the home. “It’s a sacrifice we ask of the country,” he said, “but it’s important. “
It will require a gigantic effort on the part of loving Italians, but the country has shown determination. “If I had to isolate myself from my family,” Borgato says, “I would feel very depressed, but I would find the strength to overcome it in any way I could. “