37100

Went to a shopping centre, here in Verona, that has a supermarket aimed at germans. It absolutely reeked of disinfect. It was hard not to gag. Someone had obviously spent the night spraying everywhere.

philat98

Ryanair are cancelling 25% of their flights in Italy. At least they are giving 14 days notice. I wonder if they give a refund?

Lorna at Vicenza

Think I saw that you could ask for a refund, re-book or re-route. God knows how long it will take them to process refunds though?

philat98

Ryanair have cancelled and refunded my flight to Vienna in April through Paypal. I am quite impressed.

Geordieborn

WoW so am I !

Lorna at Vicenza

Wow. I didn't think they would be so quick with refunds. April though? How long are we expecting all of this to go on for?

Geordieborn

Listening to the media discussions here in the UK I’m thinking at least May/June, but they are talking about moving the Olympics… (Summer). I really don’t think they have a clue, but are banking on warmer weather having a positive impact, if only in terms of the NHS not being as busy. In that respect Italy we certainly be ahead on that score, which would be great in view of the number of deaths there in Italy.

philat98

My outdoor market was very quiet again despite only 8cases in Umbria. The hypermarket was quiet, normally stocked but sold out of handwash and disinfectants. Judging by the smell of chlorine coming from my neighbours flat Umbrian's are putting their trust in bleach.

GeorgeYoung

Not wishing to be alarmist but I can see this becoming the new normal for some while. I guess the warmer summer weather could help us out but until then I think it's everyone's responsibility to do what is asked of them to limit the spread. This is a disease which largely affects the weakest people in society and for which there is currently no medicinal cure. In addition, the more we can limit its spread, the longer we give ourselves for a cure to be found and, just as importantly, we can reduce the strain on hospitals. My initial reaction was along the lines of it being another seasonal flu but I've read messages from people with far more knowledge than me who say that this is definitely not the case.

No need for panic but we shouldn't trivialise it. Wash your hands!

philat98

I listened to Trump and Pence talking about the virus on Saturday afternoon. They explained very simply and clearly the threat. I wouldn't like to be working in London and travelling on packed commuter trains every day.

GeorgeYoung

I wonder what effect the 1 metre "distanza di sicurezza" will have on Italian attitude to personal space which, in my experience at least, seems to involve standing/sitting a lot closer to you than in the UK.

philat98

There was a man on yesterdays Blob Rai3 walking around Milan with a 1m tape measure. Not so easy. There are a few comical bits about this crisis that will vanish if you wake up in the morning with a fever.

Justcol

I saw this morning on BBC world news, the Italian govt are proposing to completely seel off the whole Lombardy region and 11 other provinces including Venice and Parma.
Has anyone here heard any more about this

carcajou

Yes, as of this morning numerous friends and relatives are in the Northern Italy lockdown zone, including some of my father-in-law's staff who live in southern Piedmont and drive into Liguria each day.

Justcol - yes it is Lombardy, plus segments of other regions across Northern Italy.

Too late, as one earlier poster mentioned, one of the reason's Italy's figures are so high was because the Italians were testing everyone symptoms or no, whereas other European countries had strict criteria about who to test. I suspect cases in Germany, France etc are vastly underreported and it is spreading silently and at an accelerated rate across the EU.

philat98

I think it just means no non essential travel. Trains, airports and roads are all open.