I Live in the Coronavirus Red Zone in Italy, and Please, Please Stay Home

At the beginning, it was far away. I used to see it flowing on the news, but Wuhan, China, is not close, so even a hypochondriac like me wasn't paying attention. I was way more interested in the Serie A soccer tournament and who would win the San Remo festival. Then, suddenly, the first case in Rome. Oh, it's just a couple of old guys in isolation, and so we minimize everything being said about the coronavirus. Here in Lombardy, Italy, we keep going to work, French kissing, shopping, and going to concerts, not paying attention at all to COVID-19.

A few days later, there is another case. This time it's only 40 km (25 miles) from my house: a young guy, someone a friend of a friend has met maybe once. The news comes, loudly, but we still tell ourselves that it's just "slightly worse than an ordinary flu." We are 30 years old, of course nothing can happen to us. The day after, the infections rise to dozens, and so we start being scared.