When Italy went into lock down 10 days ago, it all happened so suddenly that my family members there didn’t have time to understand the situation properly. Even now it still takes a lot of getting used to.
Italy’s big mistake was to underestimate the problem when it was still relatively mild and controllable. The Italian government could and should have taken more preventative measures earlier. Instead, when eventually it became desperate to stop the death toll, it had to go all the way into overkill – and so far this still hasn’t stopped the epidemic getting worse.
Being Italian myself means I’m allowed to say this: we have a bad but long-held habit of facing problems with lightness. Too slow to take the sweetness out of life, now my fellow Italians are drinking from a bitter cup.
Here in London, the authorities have risked the same mistake. Yes, they have stepped up in the past few days, but even earlier this week London was allowed to carry on almost as normal. We were encouraged to think that washing our hands and cleaning the Tube overnight would be enough to keep us safe.
Some chance!
I’m not keen on a lock down, I’ve seen what my family members in Italy are going through. But London should do more now or it will end up going the same way.
