It's sad our government has followed exactly same thread but I hope they act faster with complete lock down.

Italy, Pandemic’s New Epicenter, Has Lessons for the World


The country’s experience shows that steps to isolate the coronavirus and limit people’s movement need to be put in place early, with absolute clarity, then strictly enforced.

ROME — As Italy’s coronavirus infections ticked above 400 cases and deaths hit the double digits, the leader of the governing Democratic Party posted a picture of himself clinking glasses for “an aperitivo in Milan,” urging people “not to change our habits.”

That was on Feb. 27. Not 10 days later, as the toll hit 5,883 infections and 233 dead, the party boss, Nicola Zingaretti, posted a new video, this time informing Italy that he, too, had the virus.

Italy now has more than 53,000 recorded infections and more than 4,800 dead, and the rate of increase keeps growing, with more than half the cases and fatalities coming in the past week. On Saturday, officials reported 793 additional deaths, by far the largest single-day increase so far. Italy has surpassed China as the country with the highest death toll, becoming the epicenter of a shifting pandemic.

The government has sent in the army to enforce the lockdown in Lombardy, the northern region at the center of the outbreak, where bodies have piled up in churches. On Friday night, the authorities tightened the nationwide lockdown, closing parks, banning outdoor activities including walking or jogging far from home.

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced another drastic step in response to what he called the country’s most difficult crisis since the Second World War: Italy will close its factories and all production that is not absolutely essential, an enormous economic sacrifice intended to contain the virus and protect lives.

“The state is here,” he said in an effort to reassure the public.

But the tragedy of Italy now stands as a warning to its European neighbors and the United States, where the virus is coming with equal velocity. If Italy’s experience shows anything, it is that measures to isolate affected areas and limit the movement of the broader population need to be taken early, put in place with absolute clarity, then strictly enforced.

Despite now having some of the toughest measures in the world, Italian authorities fumbled many of those steps early in the contagion — when it most mattered as they sought to preserve basic civil liberties as well as the economy.

“Now we are running after it,” said Sandra Zampa, the under secretary at the Ministry of Health, who said Italy did the best it could given the information it had. “We closed gradually, as Europe is doing. France, Spain, Germany, the U.S. are doing the same. Every day you close a bit, you give up on a bit of normal life. Because the virus does not allow normal life.”

Some officials gave in to magical thinking, reluctant to make painful decisions sooner. All the while, the virus fed on that complacency.

Governments beyond Italy are now in danger of following the same path, repeating familiar mistakes and inviting similar calamity. And unlike Italy, which navigated uncharted territory for a Western democracy, other governments have less room for excuses.

Italian officials, for their part, have defended their response, emphasizing that the crisis is unprecedented in modern times. They assert that the government responded with speed and competence, immediately acting on the advice of its scientists and moving more swiftly on drastic, economically devastating measures than their European counterparts.

But tracing the record of their actions shows missed opportunities and critical missteps.

In the critical early days of the outbreak, Mr. Conte and other top officials sought to down play the threat, creating confusion and a false sense of security that allowed the virus to spread.

They blamed Italy’s high number of infections on aggressive testing of people without symptoms in the north, which they argued only created hysteria and tarnished the country’s image abroad.

Read more

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/world/europe/italy-coronavirus-center-lessons.html

Dont worry friends, corona will soon be a thing of the past.

misreal:
Dont worry friends, corona will soon be a thing of the past.

Don't downplay the impending danger. It is here and the numbers are rising daily.

Lagos State should shut down all markets. A word is enough for the wise

Chinese doctors who were sent there to provide more help are saying in places like Lombardi that have been badly hit , people are still not complying with the quarantine requirements., public gathering
are still taking places, bars and restaurants
are full.

panafrican:
Chinese doctors who were sent there to provide more help are saying in places like Lombardi that have been badly hit , people are still not complying with the quarantine requirements., public gathering
are still taking places, bars and restaurants
are full.

Truth is that we are already in for a massive hit. We lack the facilities, manpower and resources to handle it once people begins to drop in 100's.

China lied about their numbers, gave false report that the virus was of small concern to other countries and then took over 3 months to respond to it when over 5 million people had left the epicenter. Just look at the numbers from China no exponential increase like in other countries. Italy followed everything from the report and see how it is now I just hope Nigeria takes more measures, total lockdown, track those people who have been exposed and isolate them cos I think we're in for something really serious

I really don't know how we can survive this cos everybody is going about their normal business like nothing is happening. Then there's the govt not putting plans for example in other countries distilleries are making sanitiziers now, automakers are planning to make more ventilators. Intact people are posting prototypes of ventilators online that can be 3D printed, our government is confused.

1x2x3:


It's already late in my opinion. I'm surprised many Nigerians are still not taking any preventive measures or precautions in public places.

Health sector is zero. I see health personnels refusing to take risk or put their lives in danger to save anyone. The only positive side is that the politicians can't travel. The poor choices they've been making to suffer the poor masses will hit them hard this time.