With 11 towns now experiencing lockdown in Lombardy Coronavirus is slowly setting in. I’m an English teacher living just outside of Milan in a town called Varese. On Sunday the 23rd of February I took a walk through the city. The streets had a pungent smell of bleach, everyone was manically cleaning the door handles, baskets and trolleys. Anything that could have possibly been in contact with the virus. The supermarkets are running low, sanitiser or any kind of disinfectant is out of stock and I already tried the supermarket, the equivalent of superdrug and the chemist but all of it was gone.
Ambulance sirens in the background are more often than usual and people are clearly panicking. As I walked around to my local cafe I noticed the locals were boarding up shops and bars were closed, the cinema was closed I felt like I was in a ghost town. As a foreigner in this country I resonate with how difficult it can be to integrate into an area of Italy which is preconceived and often closed-minded towards diversity. I love Italy, it’s the perfect romance between food, culture and art. However in these last few weeks with the unfortunate outbreak of the Coronavirus the pandemic has become a way of discriminating against the local Asian community. Stories of threats left on Asian food shops doors and xenophobia targeted at Asian communities as if the virus was part of their DNA. As I started to look around, observe people’s behaviour and reactions it stirred anger inside of me that nothing has changed, In the face of this virus the majority choose to be greedy, take more then what is needed and resort to extreme discrimination. Unfortunately because of the crisis for many including myself work has come to a halt due to government protocol. My mum who was due to arrive next Friday for the Milano Carnevale will not be attending due to safety and the cancellation of the event stopping 50,000 people from celebrating our most important holiday here in Italy. The Coronavirus has raised fear in our community but I think I have developed a fear for the people’s demeanor and tact towards this severe virus. MI5’s maxim is that “society is only four meals away from anarchy”. What I have witnessed in recent weeks is a very small percentage of today’s society behaving in this way, will Italy be reduced to complete havoc in a weeks time?
This virus has provoked debate amongst society but even more so it has created justification for racism and the segregation of communities. If this pandemic continues to evolve on a global scale, does that mean this distorted prejudice does too? When we face a crisis human nature kicks in and so does our civil disobedience, law and order is put to one side and we accept chaos as the ‘norm’. The CDC estimates that as many as 56,000 people die from the flu illness each year, people of any race, gender and colour why is the Coronavirus any different?
If you are in Lombardy or Italy and are seeking medical help, call this number in order not to collapse the single emergency number. 800 894545.
Spread love not fear.
Season Zero 
Leave a comment