Diary in Rome: Life in a boat in the tempest

Editor's note: The decree of the Italian government putting the country under lockdown went into effect on Tuesday, in a bid to prevent the ongoing coronavirus epidemic from spreading.

What does the life look like under a lockdown? Below is the diary from Grandesso Federico, an Italian national residing in Padova, northern Italy, recording his life on the second day of the national lockdown.

by Grandesso Federico

PADOVA, Italy, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Something changed today: the air was heavier, the usual sounds around gone, and the population more nervous.

The good news of the day was the financial measures: 25 billion euros -- presented in the morning by the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte -- set aside to help. Some people were still holding out on how well it would work, with skepticism, like the lady owner of the takeaway pizza close to Pontecorvo Square.

"Yesterday I earned very little and today even worse, at the end of the month I will have to pay the rent. The home delivery, that initially seemed to be a good option, is not delivering good results. If it goes on like that, I will have to shut down," she told me.

Now everywhere one can see, on the floor of public places, stripes indicating the distance of one meter. In some small shops, one even had to stay outside waiting -- shops were now assessing and controlling how many customers should enter at one time.

Going with my bike to the city center, I felt the difference from a few days ago. Everybody walked faster and tried to avoid contacts; the authorities now made clear that even if one walks on the street, he or she has to bring a signed certificate attesting that the out-of-home was for a good reason.

When I got to the pharmacy, right in front of the local town hall, I found a small queue of people, but no masks for the moment. As with yesterday and the days before that, the problem of scarcity was still there and it remains a big headache.

While going out, people tried to avoid contacts, with a relaxed "slalom" -- just as a skier had to do to evade obstacles. Most shops in the city center decided to close, and in the course of the last four days, during which I paid attention, one could not help but notice an unprecedented atmosphere of growing emptiness.

What would happen in case of a normal flu, or a common cold, with high fever? The disturbing answer is quarantine.

At this moment, I felt that the only positive and safe place where one can relax a little bit, and talk, is the pharmacies. In the supermarkets, on the other hand, people were fast and focused on their targets. At this time in Padova, we don't know if we will be able to go out the very next day, should the authorities impose stricter measures. And for this reason, even the small freedom of going out to the pharmacy is a luxury.

In the evening, we learnt from the Prime Minister that all non-essential shops will close from tomorrow morning. The exceptions were pharmacies and food shops. Fortunately, the public transport system will still run. Services of vital public functions such as banks and post offices will be open, too.

The responsibility of fellow citizens on public transportation, in my opinion, would have to increase: if the buses remained crowded as usual, perhaps restrictions would be necessary to decrease the potential of spreading infections.

We have to change our way of life, and for sure, a big shock for the Italians will be the shutdown of all the coffee bars and restaurants from tomorrow.

We will for sure also have to learn to go and get the food in the early morning or late evening, just to avoid unnecessary queues and crowded spaces. The daily tradition of a quick espresso coffee in the morning will have to wait for a while, and in this dramatic period we will have to re-discover a new way to live inside our houses and maybe gardens.

Some news from the hospitals were comforting me. In Padova today, all the staff was said to be undergoing the medical checkup -- as my friend Fabrizio told me. "Because of these medical examinations, there was a very long queue, with maybe 150-200 people, lasting several hours today," he said.

Making sure all the doctors and nurses are healthy is, in my opinion, crucial: they are the guardians of the entire populations' well-being. I can wholeheartedly trust my Veneto regional public health system, in the difficult context of 1,023 cases have now been confirmed for the region.

The tone by Luca Zaia, Veneto Region President, in the midday press conference today was very clear. "I want to see the roads empty, bars closed, the beaches shut down and the squares deserted," he said.

Let's see tomorrow if the day will bring us other restrictions. We live like in a boat in the tempest, and the only choice in this very moment is to resist.