Life in the Red Zone: Week 2

Welcome to Day 12 (I think) of lockdown. It is very easy to lose track of time in this situation: one day is very much like any other. I feel like it’s hardest on the dogs, who are used to running around in the park across the street. That’s closed now and it’s only possible to take them out for short walks around the neighbourhood. Granted that’s better than nothing and it gets me outside as well. I am thinking about renting Phryne and Reina out to non-dog owners who need an excuse to get a breath of fresh air. €50 per hour. DM me if interested. Otherwise, the big highlight of my day is walking out to the trash cans in the piazza.

Rent-a-dogs, available for walks by the hour

This is all deeply surreal. It’s easy to get everything we need food-wise from the little bodega down the street. Pharmacies and dog food stores are open. We’re not the least bit uncomfortable. Plenty of toilet paper in case you American weirdos were wondering. No guns though, yet, Lazio only has 800 odd cases of coronavirus so far, as opposed to 20 000 up north in Lombardy so I guess our worst is yet to come. The Upstairs Vegetarian is still staying with me since the renovations on her kitchen have been put mostly on hold due to the lockdown. She’s reporting on the virus for her big fancy newspaper and is super knowledgeable and thus hyper-vigilant about things like handwashing and floorcleaning (since you can apparently track the virus into the house). Every time I come inside she shouts at me to wash my hands and take off my shoes. We’re fine for the time being and I’m trying to be relaxed about it all. But every once in a while, the fear comes. On my birthday, just over a week ago, we hit 10 000 cases. Now there are over 41 000. And yes, I do know how epidemics work; I’ve just never seen one up close.

Will this ever end? To date, we’ve had more deaths than China, with a fraction of the population. The lockdown has now been extended past the original end date of April 3. How will Italy’s already overloaded healthcare system cope? Not to mention America’s, which doesn’t seem to be even remotely ready for this. How many more people will die? I only know one person who has tested positive so far but obviously that will change. Scary. And then I watch the video of the dumbass spring breakers that’s been circulating and it makes me incredibly angry.

Listen dumbasses, the thing is that this virus can be asymptomatic, meaning you may have it but not be experiencing any symptoms. It’s also super contagious. So that means you could go out, feeling fine, have a yoga lesson, go to the shops, pick up a coffee at Starbucks, come home and wash your hands, thinking, “What’s everybody so worried about? This isn’t all that bad.” Meanwhile, you’ve just killed the old lady who was behind you in line when you ordered your decaf caramel mocha frappuccino. You thought you were being nice when you picked up the purse she dropped. Instead, you just passed her a handful of coronavirus germs and now she’s dead. Go home. Wash your hands.

In lockdown, it is easy to abandon the nuisance things one tends to do when in the presence of polite company. Men stop shaving, I assume. Women stop colouring their hair, thwarted by the closure of the beauty parlours. Don’t even get me started on my fingernail situation. I am currently constructing a sort of Leaning Tower of Pisa in my bedroom consisting of the clothes I have stopped hanging up and putting away. I’m interested to see how high it can rise. Now here’s a thing. I am old enough to remember the 1980 New York transit strike. It only lasted about two weeks, but when it was done, a ton of people carried on walking to work every day just as they had during the strike. I had about a three mile walk each way, but once I got into the habit, I really enjoyed the walk, which took me through the Central Park Zoo. Once this ends, if it ever does, I wonder if any of our behaviour will change on a permanent basis. Hair dye and manicures aside, will we start to treat each other better? Will we start to treat the planet better?

The news just came in: 793 deaths today in Italy, the most so far. Be safe everybody.

We are bored, but healthy.