London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

Italy is traumatised and normality is still only a distant dream

Singing has stopped and shutters are closed as Italy struggles to recover from the death, fear and hardship brought by the virus.

Europe watched Italy's human catastrophe unfold and was warned about what was to come.

For Italians it was too late to prepare - they had to learn the horrors of this pandemic as they lived them.

When Italy's government announced the first lockdown in Europe, few could have predicted how long it would last.

Three weeks became nearly eight. The deadline was extended time and time again.

Even as Italy moves to "phase 2" from Monday, the country is lifting measures more slowly and more cautiously than most others.

Perhaps little wonder when you see the trauma this country has endured in little over two months.

Even in the early days of lockdown, you could feel the country was in a state of high anxiety. As Italians saw the health emergency escalate, they also had to process the shock of being the first country in Europe ordered to stay home.

One conversation remains etched in my memory more than many others.

On day two of lockdown I met Aurelio Fragapanni waiting outside a pharmacy to collect his sister's medication. He displayed the charisma and warmth shown by so many Italians.

But one simple question - "how are you?" - and he began to cry.

As a senior citizen he was in the virus's high risk category so I asked if he was scared. "I get emotional, but not for me," he replied. "People aren't prepared."

Aurelio was right.

Few could have been prepared for what the next two months would hold.

There was no frame of reference to predict the events of this pandemic.

Italy became a country of unwelcome firsts.



The first to show its hospitals overrun with the sick.

The first to call in the army to transport the dead.

The first to launch a criminal investigation into care home deaths.

What we were seeing and hearing was shocking.

In exactly 10 weeks Italy lost more than 28,000 of its citizens to COVID-19. That doesn't include most of those who have died in residential homes.

More than 180 doctors and nurses have died from coronavirus - another two have taken their own lives.

The head of infectious diseases at Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia, Lombardy, described the trauma of working with the fear of dying. More than 300 of his colleagues have tested positive for the virus.

"We were asking each other who will be the next and that, of course, is psychologically demanding. Also because, apart from being colleagues, we are friends.

"We are also isolated, each of us at home, because we fear also to maybe transfer the contagion to our beloved ones.

"So if you put all that together, the workload, the fatigue, the tiredness, that is fairly psychologically demanding."

In the early weeks of Italy's outbreak there was a sense of hope and optimism.

Italians gathered in their windows and balconies to sing together and say "Andrà tutto bene" - everything will be alright.

But as the number of dying continued to escalate, hope faded.

The singing stopped, shutters stayed closed.

The lockdown was tightened further. Even exercise was restricted to the close vicinity of where you lived. The number of police checkpoints seemed to increase. We saw fewer and fewer people outside.

Almost everyone we spoke to was dealing with their own personal struggle.

"For a single old man staying at home alone it's difficult," said a pensioner sitting alone in one of Rome's squares. "I have no relations. It's sad. But you know, better than being infected."

Even essential workers, considered lucky, were barely coping.

Stefano Capelli's taxi earnings had dropped to €30 (£26) a day. I asked how long he could last financially. "Maybe one month. Maybe," he replied.

If his predictions were correct, he will have run out of money around three weeks ago.

The lockdown, border closures, and travel restrictions have hurt Italy's economy. Despite pressure to lift measures sooner in the south of the country, where the infection is lower but poverty is far higher, the government appears to be taking no risks.

Italians realise that normality as they knew it will not resume anytime soon. This is all the more apparent when you see the detailed conditions being set by the government for lifting measures.

The price of facemasks has been fixed too but there's ongoing debate about whether to make them mandatory outside. It is already compulsory to wear them on public transport, in shops, and in work places.

Italy has seen how the virus spreads at frightening speed and the slow painful fight needed to bring it under control.

The characteristic warmth of Italians has been replaced by an obsession with personal space. Even the physical act of wearing a mask seems to have silenced people's spirits.

This would have seemed inconceivable a couple of months ago.

But it's hard to imagine life as before.

The national trauma of the first outbreak perhaps still too raw.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×