Berlusconi was hospitalized for Covid for at least 10 days. The phrase at the entrance: “Once I have checked, can I go?”

Today the most famous doctor in San Raffaele and the most famous of his clients are face to face in a room at the Milano Due hospital, in accordance with the security devices enabled to house a person infected with Covid-19. The dialogue is complicated, also because there is distance and there are masks in between. And then Berlusconi tired, he feels mild symptoms of tiredness and exhaustion, even if he does not have a fever. He wants to go home, to Villa San Martino, from where he left with the promise that it would be the opportune moment to take an exam and then they would bring him back. None of this will happen. With the results of the CT scan of the lungs under the eyes, brought up by the lab technician while Berlusconi’s fingers drummed nervously on the bed, Zangrillo opposes his grandchild to the Knight’s wish to return to Arcore to get rid of the symptoms of the Coronavirus in the isolated space they had obtained inside the villa – living room overlooking the northern part of the surrounding park and exclusive use of the adjacent dining room – perhaps continuing the campaign for the Regionals at the rate of two phone calls a day.

The immediate diagnosis of Zangrillo refers to bilateral pneumonia, identified fortunately in its initial stage. There is no need to be alarmed, but not even to be sure. There is no immediate danger of ending up in intensive care, but neither is there the serenity of sending the patient home, as if nothing had happened. Especially since, in addition to the years that will become eighty-four on September 29, there are also the previous pathologies which has led him to frequent it often, the San Raffaele, in recent years.

Berlusconi, at the end of the dialogue, agrees to be hospitalized. They repeatedly repeat what will be the mantra of official communications and unofficial voices, the formula of precautionary purposes for which it is better to stay in hospital and stay even below the lowest risk threshold. They tell him about this comforting situation, which Zangrillo himself will underline several times in answering to reporters in the afternoon. And they illustrate a path that will last at least ten days, the temporal perimeter during which the Knight’s lungs will play their game with the lung infection derived from the Coronavirus, with the primary objective of not making it advance beyond the precocious state.

And to think that the night before, Thursday, had started under a completely different sign. I had some fever lines but now In the past, Berlusconi had repeated talking on the phone with fellow party members and political opponents (including, hours before, even with Prime Minister Conte). At 10 o’clock at night, after listening to him, Zangrillo convinces him to arrive at San Raffaele to undergo a CT scan of the lungs. As if to say, let’s get rid of the thought, to see what comes out, when it comes to having the dishes, looking at them and going home as if nothing had happened. The former prime minister willingly accepts, although feeling much better than in the morning had already led him to lower his guard. I’m better than a few hours ago, the fever lines that I had are gone. Good sign, huh? At 11 p.m., the broken nineteen kilometers that separate the Villa San Martino gate from the entrance to the Milano Due hospital have already been covered by Berlusconi’s column of cars. The cars will return at dawn without their rightful owner, who remains hospitalized.

Questions about Berlusconi’s form will find answers in the arc of the next ten days. Fears about the possible expansion of the family group have not yet been left behind. Although positive news arrived yesterday at dinner time. Members of the Fininvest board of directors who had undergone swabbing in Milan (there are those who did it outside the region) – had met with the former prime minister on Tuesday night for dinner, in the postponement of the traditional Monday lunch – had the test result. All negative for Covid-19. Beginning with Adriano Galliani, who, except for last minute surprises, will be able to witness the friendly Milan-Monza. Sitting next to an empty chair, which would be Berlusconi’s turn.