L'Italo-Americano

LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano C o V i D - 1 9 p a n - d e m i c a s o f 3 1 March 2020: In the world - Con- f i r m e d C a s e s : 8 4 6 , 2 5 0 + ; F a t a l i t i e s : 41,750+. I n o u r b e l o v e d I t a l i a - Confirmed Cases: 106,000+; Fatalities: 12,500+. I n t h e U S - C o n f i r m e d Cases: 183,750+; Fatalities: 3,790+. In California - Confirmed Cases: 6,950+; Fatalities: 160+. In Los Angeles County - Confirmed Cases: 3,025+; Fatalities: 60+. Sun Valley, where Villa Scalabrini is located, has 6 c o n f i r m e d c a s e s ; a n d C h i n a t o w n , w h e r e o u r church of St. Peter is located, has 0 confirmed cases. (for individual cities and neighborhoods within LA, c h e c k a t : p u b l i c h e a l t h . lacounty.gov) O n 3 1 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 , t h r e e m o n t h s a g o t o d a y , Chinese health authorities reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) a dozen cases of a "mysterious pneu- monia". The cause was traced to a virus of the Corona fami- ly. This novel Corona virus of 2019 (nCoV-19) was soon f o u n d t o b e i n f e c t i o u s i n human-to-human transmis- sion, and to cause a viral pneumonia similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but with more serious and long lasting destruction of the lung tissue. SARS had also been caused by a Corona virus, and had spread out of China 18 years ago, but was quickly con- tained. O n 1 1 F e b r u a r y , W H O n a m e d t h e n e w d i s e a s e Corona Virus Disease 2019 (CoViD-19, often written in shorthand as Covid), and renamed nCoV-19, the 'virus responsible for CoViD-19', as SARS-Cov2, the second iden- tified member of the Corona v i r u s f a m i l y t o p r o v o k e SARS. The epidemics contin- u e d u n a b a t e d , b e c a m e uncontrollable in 114 coun- tries, with 188,000+ con- f i r m e d c a s e s a n d 4 , 0 0 0 + deaths, and was declared a p a n d e m i c b y W H O o n 1 1 March 2020 - three weeks ago. B u t , w h a t i s m e a n t b y "confirmed case", we might ask. When a person is tested for SARS-Cov2 in an accred- ited clinical setting that is not a l i c e n s e d C D C l a b , t h e results are "presumptive". When the testing is done in a CDC lab, then the outcome is "confirmed". This nomenclature was originally meant to standard- ize and centralize the testing process and thus to be help- ful to public health respon- ders. But it has, in fact, creat- ed confusion and delays in our testing of Covid in the US. Standards have since been relaxed, although the terminology of "confirmed cases" has been retained, which creates yet another layer of confusion. Today, it is fair to read "confirmed cases" as "cases positive" for SARS-Cov2. To be clear, Covid pre- sents a more complex set of symptoms than SARS. As SARS, it can present as a serious respiratory illness, which can be fatal particular- ly to the elderly - perhaps because of a phenomenon called immunosenescence - and to patients already taxed by certain conditions, includ- ing heart problems and car- diovascular disease, over- weight and obesity, diabetes and autoimmune diseases, or cancer - perhaps because of a phenomenon called immune 'exhaustion' -. New clinical evidence indicates that cer- tain Covid patients also suffer from serious gastrointestinal problems, and others lose the sense of smell and taste. The latter observation confirms t h e p r e d i c t i o n o f s o m e researchers that a form of Neuro-Covid might be soon identified, akin to Neuro- Aids. T h e v i r u s t h a t c a u s e s Covid is an RNA virus, which lends to its relatively high potential rate of mutation t h a t c o n t r i b u t e s t o s o m e additional difficulties in test- ing. Testing for SARS-Cov2 is done by verifying the pres- e n c e o f i t s R N A i n s w a b s o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e n o s e m u c u s o r t h e b a c k o f t h e throat. This test technique is more accurate in detecting who has the virus (sensitivi- ty) and in determining who does not (specificity) than measuring the levels of anti- bodies in blood. But, measur- ing viral RNA can be costly and takes several hours to d a y s , w h e r e a s m e a s u r i n g blood antibody is cheaper and much faster. Covid is a very dangerous disease to each and everyone of us, to our families, to the fabric of society, and to the world as we know it. It is out of control pretty much world- wide, which adds to the gen- eralized anxiety, if not panic about it. In a future 'Word with', we will explore the psy- cho-emotional and psycho- social sequelae of Covid. For comments, questions or the Italian version of these few thoughts, please contact: Chiappelli.research@gm ail.com without its people: my heart and prayers are with you," a n d M i c h e l e A Ferrantino, who noted the way Italians seem to find something to smile about even in times like these: "I love the fact that, even thou- gh Italians are quarantined, singing and laughter is reso- nating from balconies. My family in Italy is making the best of the situation, which is the 'Italian way' of doing things, " and he concludes his message with "the" hash- tag of the moment Andrà tutto bene. And indeed, the messages o f l o v e a n d s u p p o r t h a v e been endless and they came from Italian-Americans and I t a l o p h i l e s a l i k e . Alessandra Coletti, too, chooses the #andràtutto- bene hashtag to show sup- port and concludes saying that "torneremo più forti di p r i m a , " w e ' l l c o m e b a c k stronger than ever. Roy Scarbrough is con- v i n c e d t h e c r e a t i v i t y a n d resilience of Italy will shine through this ordeal, as it h a p p e n e d i n m a n y o t h e r occasions: "I'm not Italian, but I love the people of Italy, and return regularly. Out of the plague, came the sublime Decameron. Italy will make something out of this as well. Love to them all." Michelle S a r a h R o c c a shows her pride and love to Italy with these words, "Blood of my blood. Resilience is in our DNA. Forza Italia!" Ronnie Zino sends us strength and t h o u g h t s c i t i n g o u r o w n P r i m e M i n i s t e r G i u s e p p e Conte and his now iconic "Restiamo lontani oggi, per abbracciarci più forti doma- ni." A s h o w e r o f a f f e c t i o n , memories and positive thou- ghts that fanno comunità, t h a t m a k e u n d e r s t a n d a community — a real, strong one — exists for real. A com- munity that brings together Italians from both sides of the Atlantic. Gloria Panico p r o b a b l y g a v e t h e m o s t direct, simple yet profound explanation of what Italy means to Italian-Americans, and I think it's right to con- clude with her words: "What I love most about Italia? A million things, but I can sum it up this way. I was born in t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d America is my home, but Italy… Italy is my blood." Entries have been edited for clarity. P e r S a p e r n e D i P i ù : C o V i D - 1 9 , A Word with Francesco Chiappelli Issue 1, Dott. Francesco Chiappelli, Prof. Emer. UCLA Center for the Health Sciences Continued from page 12

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