Dragons with Italy

53,578 positive cases and 4,825 deaths in Italy recorded on March 21st. One of the most beautiful countries in the world is now the second most affected country in the world by the coronavirus. There are more than 700 new cases every day and the hospitals can’t keep up with the patients coming in for treatment. There are not enough ventilators for all the elderly affected by the coronavirus. To help during this terrible time, many of our medical students became doctors to serve those in need. Life has changed: from a walking museum, Italy is now in complete lockdown. All the stores and offices are closed, except for supermarkets and pharmacies. All the Italians are in quarantine and we can’t go outside from our homes without a permit and a valid reason. Mostly we go out to the supermarket. We have to wait in long lines for hours before entering the supermarkets and with high risk of infection. We Italians were the first to warn Europe about the dangers of the virus, but all of Europe did not take the warning seriously. The French made a video called “corona pizze” to make fun of the Italians and England even kicked out a woman from a supermarket because she was Italian. Now, all Europe is listening to us and is asking for our help. Now it is the time to act.

We are following the rules the government provided us. We are following the quarantine in our homes, we go outside only for emergencies, and we wash our hands frequently. But we all can be more active during this epidemic. Our doctors, nurses, and citizens are making a lot of sacrifices to help the patients affected by the virus and they are risking their lives in order to do so. We can help them. We can help Italy. The Italian Pride student organization is doing crowdfunding to donate money to the Hospital of Bergamo and the emergency hospital Covid Hospital 4 Tor Vergata in Rome in order to aid the doctors, a potential cure, and space for all of the patients.

Bergamo is the most affected city in Italy for the Coronavirus. It has 5869 positive cases and, in only one day, that number of cases increased by 700. You might have seen the images of long lines of military vehicles during the night to transport the bodies of the dead from the cemetery to the highway since the cemetery can’t hold any more bodies. The waiting list for the crematory is now weeks. Soon, the hospitals will not anymore be able to answer to the people affected by the coronavirus. They are opening a field hospital to face the high demand for cures but still it will take 7 to 10 days before it becomes operative. The patients at the hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII have to wait between 24 to 48 hours before they can be treated. 60% of the money we collect will go to hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII to guarantee they have the beds for the patients, the ventilators to cure the patients, and to pay the doctors and nurses, the heroes of the situation, for their efforts and sacrifices during this period.