L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano C ovid-19 chan- g e d o u r h a b i t s entirely: the way w e w o r k , t h e w a y w e g o t o school, the way we socialize, i t ' s a l l d i f f e r e n t . C a n y o u remember the last time you hugged someone? If you're single and live alone, just like me, chances are it's been almost a year — if we don't count, of course, the just as important cuddles we recei- ve from our pets, a true bles- sing for many in these times of imposed solitude. In Italy, the Summer went by almost normally. And we paid the consequen- ces of it. In an attempt to " s a v e t h e e c o n o m y " a n d appease people, traveling w a s a l l o w e d a c r o s s t h e country and abroad, restau- rants and bars were open, people would gather in large groups, no masks, because "it's Summer and the virus is no longer here." Just like a nation of spoiled children, we put hedonistic pleasures and "the economy" above health and life. Now we are paying it all, with a second wave that hit the country harder than the first, with way more infec- tions and hospitals, once again, struggling to go on. Yes, there are better thera- pies for the sick; somehow, the message about wearing masks and social distancing has been understood by a vast majority of Italians and current restrictions begin to show early signs of functio- ning in limiting contagion. But we're not out of it, quite yet. H o w e v e r , e v e r y t h i n g w o u l d b e " a l m o s t " u n d e r control if it wasn't for one thing: Christmas. At Christmas, by defini- tion, we gather, we meet, we go to Midnight Mass. We e x c h a n g e p r e s e n t s a n d spend time with family and friends. Many of us head to the mountains for a much desired skiing vacation. But in 2020, this doesn't mean embracing seasonal spirit, nor relaxing on the snow after months of work at the office: it means gatherings t h a t s h o u l d n ' t h a p p e n , i t means the impossibility of keeping social distancing, it means ruining in the short space of a couple of weeks all the hard work we've done in the past two months of lockdown. Weary of last Summer's e x p e r i e n c e , t h e I t a l i a n G o v e r n m e n t h a s b e e n trying to find a way to allow us to enjoy our Christmas, w i t h o u t c a u s i n g a t h i r d Covid-19 wave in January. While there aren't official guidelines quite yet — we should get them on the 3rd of December — the picture is becoming clearer and clea- rer the closer we get to that date. Let me just remind you what's the status quo at the moment, though: the coun- try is currently divided in r e d , o r a n g e a n d y e l l o w regions, where the red are in full lockdown, with schools ( b e s i d e E l e m e n t a r y ) o n d i s t a n c e l e a r n i n g a n d r e s t a u r a n t s , b a r s a n d a number of retail businesses closed. Traveling between communes is only allowed for work or health reasons, while region to region move- ments are forbidden (this a p p l i e s a l s o t o o r a n g e regions). In orange regions, people have the same limita- tions as in the red, but can travel within regional bor- ders freely. Yellow regions, which are at lower risk of infections, have bars and restaurants open until 6pm and schools open, too. Everywhere, social gathe- rings are forbidden, going to visit friends at home is for- bidden (in red areas), or at least not recommended. We're all on various levels of lockdown, so to speak. Now, we could spend gallons of ink trying to understand w h e t h e r t h i s i s t h e r i g h t a p p r o a c h o r n o t — t h e media here have been doing if for the past 3 weeks — but let's focus on Christmas. E x p e r t s s a y t h a t , v e r y l i k e l y , w e ' l l h a v e a s e t o f r e g u l a t i o n s f o r t h e t w o weeks leading to Christmas and a set of — slightly less restrictive — regulations for the actual days of the festivi- ties, provided data allow an ease of the current rules, that is. It is likely that stores and shopping malls will remain open until 10 pm, both to allow people to shop without creating overcrowding and to give the opportunity to businesses to remain active for longer. Limited access to shopping streets (think Via Montenapoleone in Milan, for instance) is also a possi- b l e o p t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n large cities. Shopping cen- t e r s s h o u l d r e o p e n a t weekends, too (they are cur- rently closed on saturdays and sundays), with limited access and set hours for over 6 5 s h o p p e r s . A g o s t i n o Miozzo, coordinator of the C T S , t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s Covid-19 task force, is very clear about one thing: "it'll be closer to normal, but far f r o m b e i n g a r e l e a s e - a l l situation." S k i r e s o r t s a r e v e r y likely to remain closed for the whole festive periods. One single day of open slo- pes in Cervinia a month ago showed how people are just unable to intelligently enjoy t h e i r t i m e o n t h e s n o w : i m m e n s e g a t h e r i n g s , queues, lack of social distan- c i n g . T h e r i s k o f k e e p i n g t h e m o p e n o v e r t h e Christmas period seems too h i g h , a l t h o u g h t h e Government has been trying to find a compromise, with s k i r e s o r t s c l o s e d i n r e d regions and open in orange o n e s , b u t w i t h a l i m i t e d access. When it comes to trave- ling from region to region, it is likely rules will remain the s a m e : n o t r i p s b e t w e e n orange and red regions, with residents of yellow regions able to move only to other yellow regions. There may b e s o m e l e e w a y t o a l l o w close family members to tra- vel and join relatives, but this remains still unclear. Curfew should be moved forward to midnight at least for the 24th of December, to allow people to go to the tra- d i t i o n a l " M e s s a d i Mezzanotte," which takes p l a c e a r o u n d 1 0 p m i n a large majority of places. Last but not least: family dinners and parties. Large gathe- rings will remains forbidden a n d i t i s l i k e l y t h a t o n l y f a m i l y m e m b e r s l i v i n g together will be able to par- ticipate to the same cenone di Natale. T h i s C h r i s t m a s w i l l b e very different from every other the vast majority of us experienced in their lifetime: there will be less partying a n d e a t i n g t o g e t h e r , l e s s presents, and certainly more preoccupation around our health, our future, our loved o n e s . P e r h a p s w e s h o u l d take advantage of it, though, and move back to a simpler, more spiritual celebration, the way it really should be. Let it be a Christmas where our soul and our love for those who are meaningful to us really win. Presents, din- ners and fancy holidays can wait until next year. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI How will our Christmas be? This year, Christmas celebrations will be heavily affected by Covid-19 restrictions in Italy, as everywhere else in the world (Photo: Ralf Liebhold/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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