Italy and Iran have been the hardest hit countries by COVID-19 outside mainland China,... where
the virus started. The Italian government on Tuesday announced
over 31-thousand confirmed cases, an increase of more than 3,500 from the day before, while
the number of deaths topped 25-hundred. Iran has reported over 16,000 people infections
and close to one-thousand deaths. Thousands of locals who live in areas with
major outbreaks have been put in quarantine or are choosing not to leave their homes to
reduce the risk of spreading the virus. To talk about how daily life has changed with
the ongoing spread of COVID-19, we connect with Gabriel Barbati, a video journalist for
VOA in Rome,... and Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist based in New York.
Gabriel: All of Italy has been on lockdown for over a week as the southern European country
became hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally at this time of year, where you are
in Rome the city is bustling with life and tourists. But now, it must be a time of fear,
uncertainty and sadness. How has daily life changed over the past ten days?
Do you think the lockdown was a good idea and how are Italians responding to the government's
measures? Masih, you've been observing your home country
of Iran where the pandemic has also infected thousands. The Persian New Year is this week.
But with the COVID-19 outbreak it seems there won't be much cause for celebration.
From your observations, how has daily life changed across Iran since the outbreak?
There's also concern over how to contain the virus, especially with Iranian government
officials falling ill. What kind of steps do the Iranian public want
to see? In times of crisis, public morale is so important.
We saw Italian residents join together to sing from their balconies during the lockdown
and many local residents are trying to keep their spirits up. It showed how Italian citizens
bonded together while maintaining social distancing. Gabriele, can you tell us more about this
and how it all started? You are currently in the U.S. where the outbreak
has recently started to surge. But we are seeing similar waves of panic and
a
sudden spike of infections and deaths. How has this impacted daily?
Based on the response we've seen in Iran and other countries, how do you hope
U.S. handles the crisis? That's where we'll have
to leave the discussion today. But thank you both for
joining us from Rome and New York and I hope the situation
gets better soon in your respective countries. Gabriel Barbati in
Rome
and Masih Alinejad in
New York.