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Polished Cart In Hills Near Our Home
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Here we are at the end of July and activities in northern Italy are almost back to normal. People wear masks when they leave their home and use them when around other people. They remove them once inside their cars. Lines at the pharmacy and the post office stay maintained to be spaced two meters between each other. They have placed a tear off number for knowing who is next. This is good for Italians as we have folks who sometimes conveniently forget who is next.
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Covid Cases in Italy
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Our daily skies have been the bluest I can remember, due to the lack of smog. We went almost two months with no freeway/autostrada traffic as everyone stayed home. Now a majority of people are back to work, with some still working at home. This is because there is still a risk of contacting the virus, so the less people together, the better.
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Cases in Regions (Veneto)
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Our cases remain so much lower than months ago. This virus was a huge wave, and thank goodness the leadership in Italy made the decision for people to be locked down, then after some weeks, we could move but only within our villages.
Prices of food items have risen, my typical trip to my vegetable shop is a good 10 euros more, and the super market is also maybe 15% higher than what was normal. The clerks wear masks, some also with the plastic hood, gloves and there is placed a sanitizer sprayer for hands at the entrance. All businesses seem to have this just by their doors.
Restaurants are open, but the tables are fewer due to the spacing needed between diners. Everyone arrives with mask on, and removes it at their table. Waiters have masks and gloves. Menus are digitally placed online, so no touching the menus to spread the problem.
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Paintable Old Boat In Chioggia
South Of Venice
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August is the big month for Italians to take their vacation. However, this year some will not have a chance because they have used up their vacation time and in place of that is what they call furlough. My wife will get one week, instead of the usual 3 paid weeks. Some will not go on vacation because they did not get paid for several months while in lockdown. It is my feeling that Italians, for the most part, have savings that they have used to pay bills, etc. They are better savers than Americans, where many live paycheck to paycheck. The Italian government has come through with monetary help for workers, with more expected soon. I only hope that the cases remain low AFTER these vacationers head out for the beach. We will see the results in September.
We had the strangest July that I can remember as we had rain and temperatures in the 70's for many days. I enjoyed this immensely and now I feel I am cooking at the over 90 degrees and humidity we have here. This week will be a continuation of over 90. So it was good while it lasted, as August is always scorching hot. The green hills will become a bit burnt and even the birds seem to take a break during the day. August is a quiet month here as people close their shops and many head for the beach. Sunday nights in August create some of the biggest traffic jams, beware!
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Rentable Fish Houses
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The beaches here are very different than one would find in the United States. Memories of bringing my own umbrella, cooler of drinks, a small barbecue, blanket, etc., these are a thing we don't see here. The beaches that are good for swimming have been bought off either by renting or actual buying and if you want to be there you rent a folding chair with an umbrella. All this after you rent a parking space for your car. This year those chairs are placed further from others due to the virus rules, but usually people are real close. You just try to ignore the others and enjoy the view of the water (through the heads and bodies of people in front). You can tell I am not a fan of this. If you google the site google earth, you can look down on the beaches in the south of Italy, like in Sicily, and see those chairs lined up like a marching band. It will astound you. This line up goes for miles, seriously. Imagine all those bodies down there, tanning up and waiters bringing drinks, children splashing and the sun making everyone a Krispy Kritter.
Lastly I want to mention our experience of a swab test for the virus. My wife had to visit a relative that a few days later informed us that she had a fever. We deliberated what we should do and we called our doctor. He immediately called the hospital, logged an appointment and she went in for the test. Arriving at a drive through, she waited for one car to finish and then she drove to the station. A nurse took her information and did the swab. This took about two minutes, and there was no charge. 24 hours later she got an email stating where to find the results online, which was negative. TG!
We watch the news and see that the United States has 40% of all the world's cases. I want you to know that we are concerned and hope that things get under control. For other countries of my FB friends, most have fewer cases, except for Russia and although not published, Turkey. We are all hoping for some sort of vaccine, and for it to be made available to everyone ASAP. Our lives have all been changed and we grieve for the lost victims and their families.
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Stats for Italy, deceduti (deaths)
Ciao! Be Safe! |
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