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The fear of the virus, the fear of infecting ourselves, of being positive and of fear for our lives and that of our loved ones, is a state of mind that in the midst of the pandemic protects us from temptation, arrogance and risk. underestimate the problem.
That said, I also think that we shouldn’t shy away from a deeper reading of the numbers, imagining that we could live with the same data for a long time.
Would it not also be that among the experts there are those who do not rule out a third wave, even more dramatic?
That is why our fears must be measured and also our habits reviewed.
It is legitimate, understandable, correct, if our concerns depend on the deficiencies and insufficiencies shown by the health system, by the difficulties of the tracking system or by the critical issues of territorial medicine: or even by the appeals and testimonies of those who have fought with the virus, from the image of exhausted and fully exploited healthcare workers, our first watch in the battle against Covid.
We should be concerned about the high death rate, an index of multiple factors: from the aggressiveness of the virus to the sometimes futile efforts to do everything possible to save lives.
However, our concerns are not just the result of numbers. Panic does not take hold of us, let us not allow it to destroy our ability to reflect and manage the most difficult moments.
A passage on the numbers is also a must precisely to avoid the risk of being overwhelmed by the anomalous wave of hypersensitivity.
An example above all is the epidemiological situation in Foggia, where a few days ago the current positives corresponded to 0.5% of the entire population. Ergo, one in 200 has contracted the virus. And comparing the figure of 800 infected with the number of inhabitants of more than 150 thousand, is very different from saying that those infected are eight hundred, since if it is isolated it will inevitably produce a resounding effect on each one of us.
Another example that can help us better understand the situation is the data from San Marco in Lamis, the municipality of Capitanata with the highest percentage of infected from February to today: 2.90% of 13,725 inhabitants. The positives currently correspond to 1.5% of the entire population.
And again, to date throughout Puglia, the percentage of infected is 0.7% of the more than 4 million inhabitants. In the province of Foggia it is 1.46% (from the beginning of the emergency until today).
That is, from February to November 9031 people from Foggia tested positive out of a population of 616,310. The percentage of positives today is equally serious but lower.
Therefore, reading the statistics should suggest that in the long run the real difference will not be made by figures or restrictions, but by the sum of the management of moments in each of our lives, respecting those of others.
And an efficient health system.
Nothing more, if it is true, as it seems, that the virus will reappear on other occasions and that probably not even the vaccine will be able to eradicate it completely.
We will have to train to live with it, to continue giving up something, but also to build an alternative path to our habits and coexistence with Covid.
Continuing to argue against one or the other, even today that we are up to our neck in the emergency and therefore we are forced to accept forceful measures, does not contribute to mitigating the Pandemic.
On the other hand, there is no close alternative.
Because, whole months have been wasted, promises and intentions have been failed, the problem has been taken lightly and that unfortunately there are those who continue to throw the ball much further, feeding false expectations or trying to discharge almost all of the responsibilities of citizens is an incontrovertible fact.
It is true that the requests for a ‘red zone’ in the city and in Capitanata by Mayor Landella and President Emiliano do not coincide, so much so that the Government has confirmed the orange zone for all of Puglia and is thinking of reviewing the coloring of the areas, fading a bit in the face of Christmas, provided that the epidemiological curve confirms their decline.
However, this does not mean that we should expect a relaxation of the restrictions, thinking that we are not responsible, for better or for worse, for what will happen.
Because it is only when the response of the health system to emergencies is restored and improved that we will have, yes in that case, the right to seek responsibility, in case the same problems and restrictive measures reappear.
At that time there will be no more excuses. On the other hand, we will no longer be able to pay them.
However, we just have to continue to deal with the emergency responsibly. Without high expectations, if not to get out quickly and well. And respect the rules, giving up, if necessary, even what we are not obliged to do.
At the same time, I suggest a better reading of the numbers, an exercise that can be useful to handle our fears with greater capacity, in the sea of contradictions, forecasts and a whole series of contradictory information.
Vigilant and responsible, let’s never let our guard down but let’s not panic.
