First Day of Defcon 37 TOTAL LOCKDOWN in Italy

Thursday, 12 March, 2020

I awakened early today wanting to know what the Leader of the Free World had to say in his address to the nation about the Coronavirus "hoax" as he has called it.

The President of the United States

or

The Syracuse Orangemen Mascot

Take your pick, I have equal confidence in both of their abilities to provide leadership during this serious health crisis.

My biggest top takeaway from his speech was the 30 day travel ban that Mr. Trump imposed on all flights coming from European destinations other than the U.K.

Why is the United Kingdom exempt?

Thus, I now have a minimum of 30 more days of hunkered down life in the Bunker to contend with while the siege continues in Italy. 

Speaking of the Siege . . .

Today was the was the first day of Italy's Defcon 37 level Coronavirus countermeasures.

To review, we must all simply . . .

STAY AT HOME!

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we are to only leave our Bunkers to go to the pharmacy and/or to do grocery shopping. Basically, almost all other non-essential stores, bars, restaurants, etc., are closed so as not to offer us temptations to step out.

If you are driving, there are not to be more than two people in the car. If you have a back seat in your vehicle, the passenger must ride there.

Furthermore, if you are going out to shop it needs to be at a pharmacy or supermarket close to your residence, not in some other city.

As it turned out, I did indeed need to go out today for about 45 minutes to both the pharmacy for antacids and for a few more food items at the Esselunga Supermarket.

Let's see the lay of the land as to how we are all obeying the strict new regulations.

The Caffé around the corner

from The Bunker was locked up

as tight as the proverbial drum

So was the Pasticceria Marabelli when I drove by a few minutes later.

Day One without a properly made cappuccino and a brioche was now a harsh reality.

 Near my pharmacy,

everything was closed as well

There were few cars and fewer pedestrians on the streets today.

I was the pharmacy's only patron but was still asked to use the gel provided to disinfect my hands before we conducted business.

On to the Esselunga . . .

Security Guards were still

posted at all the entrances

to control the number of customers

in the market at any one time

There were only three of us at the entrance from the Esselunga's underground parking garage and we were all allowed to pass after about a 45 second wait.

I had a plan.

If the Esselunga itself was open, then maybe their Bar Atlantico would be open offering that much needed cappuccino and brioche.

DAMN!

It was closed for the duration as well, I can't catch a break.

As for the market itself, it was even emptier today than it was yesterday. The check-out lines were shorter too.

The rest of the day was spent in the Bunker doing the usual reading, TV viewing, computer surfing, etc.

That's as exciting as life is going to get around here for the foreseeable future I'm afraid.

Finally, our neighbor Giorgio is still in Switzerland unable to come home across the nearby Swiss-Italian border from his work because of the Defcon 37 regulations.

Stay tuned . . .