A Minnesota native living in Italy is seeing more severe restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak than what they’re experiencing in her home town. Wallis Di Matteo is experiencing a “we’re in this together” attitude where few are complaining about being told they can’t even walk in the park without wearing a protective mask.
“It seems like Italians are almost bonded together like this and this is what they’re doing to save their country,” Di Matteo told Dave Lee on the WCCO Morning News.
Italy was an early hotspot in the pandemic, running up a high volume of confirmed cases and deaths, surpassing coronavirus epicenter Wuhan, China. Government leaders in Italy put parts of the nation on lockdown on March 8, expanding the order to the entire country two days later. Nearly a month later, the restrictions are even tougher, with Italian health leaders reporting upwards of than 94,000 active cases and more than 16,000 deaths.
“The number seems to be a plateau, maybe going down a bit, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said Matteo, who grew up in Red Wing and now lives on the outskirts of Milan in the northern regions of Italy. “We can go out one person per household at a time to get provisions,” she said, noting that there are lines to get into grocery stores and the number of people allowed inside at one time is very limited. “There’s been a shortage of flour,” Di Matteo said. “Which makes sense here, because everybody makes pasta.”
When anyone does go out in Italy, they are required to wear a protective mask. They also must have personal paperwork filled out daily, and it’s common, almost automatic, for officials to stop anyone on the street to ask their destination. Leaving town is out of the question unless required for a job or medical appointment.
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The restrictions are in place until April 13, and Di Matteo is expecting the rules to be extended.
“I really don’t see the argument here,” said Di Matteo about the full compliance. “Everybody’s banding together and doing what they have to do to keep everybody safe.”
