Lockdown, social distancing, quarantine
These are terms that have become a part of our lexicon since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
We're about to experience the greatest pandemic of the generation since polio.
Italy's government took the extraordinary step of locking down much of the northern part of the country.
The positive impact of social distancing.
Since the first case of the corona virus was reported to the World Health Organization on December 31st 2019,
more than 2 million people have been infected worldwide.
Nearly 4 billion people around the world or about half of humanity have been placed on varying degrees of lockdown.
So how are people around the world coping with this drastic change to our lifestyle and
what would life look like when this is all over?
That's Elena Perazzi.
She has been quarantined in her home in Venice since March 9th,
when Italy became the first time across a country to implement a nationwide shutdown
since World War Two.
The first few days has been the scary time.
I was imagine how it could be Venice during the war time
and then I realized it's never been like this.
This moment of the history is is unique.
The city never been so empty.
During the war everybody affected in some way.
During this virus everyone live in a different way.
Everyone's got his own reality.
No matter what happening in the war, you never die alone.
From morning to evening, could you describe what you do?
Yeah, I just get out to start the day and to feel
the difference between day and night.
I prepare my breakfast. I work a bit at my computer and I study a bit.
Shortly after Italy's full lockdown other European countries followed as well.
The restrictions included a ban on public gatherings school closures and a shutdown of all but essential businesses.
But why a lockdown and what makes it effective?
The purpose of a lockdown is to break the chain of transmission through social distancing.
This will reduce the average number of infections from a confirmed case.
So in theory under a lockdown a confirmed case would go on to infect only one other person or even better zero.
That's better than that person
infecting 2, 3, even 4 other people, which is the average reproductive rate of covid- 19.
Take a look at this graph.
It shows the trajectory of cases in two separate cities in Italy Lodi and Bergamo
Lodi instituted a lockdown on the 23rd of February and
Bergamo on the 8th of March.
By then the daily total number of new cases and Lodi had began to stabilize
while those in Bergamo spiked.
Across the border the French are also under lockdown.
I caught up with Jessica Lageiro who has been isolating with her boyfriend Marcelo Anjos
in Paris since the government instituted its lockdown on March 17th.
That day, it was crazy.
People running in to buy things
Pasta, and toilet paper were started to end
but there were still a lot of things to buy
but the queues to the...the line to the pay were endless.
Whenever you have to go out you have to
sign a certificate and like saying where you're going what you're doing
just you have you can only do the things that they listed.
With swathes of Europe under lockdown it has triggered a lot of
uncertainty about when and how people can return to some semblance of normalcy
What I miss the most is the freedom to do whatever I want move around the country,
visit friends.
While there are a lot of questions about how long these lockdowns will last
what is certain is the economic impact of them .
The International Monetary Fund estimates that the global economy will shrink by 3% in 2020
a stark revision from its earlier prediction of a global expansion by 3.3 percent.
Italy's economy will shrink by 9.1% percent, worse than the 7.5% percent contraction expected for the Eurozone.
The situation is especially dire because the country was already burdened with
growing debt and a stagnant economy.
At the end of 2019, Italy had nearly 2.7 trillion dollars in public debt while its economy grew by a mere 0.3%
How much a month do you think you're losing or you've lost because of the lockdown?
3,000 euros easily.
As the lockdown takes its toll on economies, many countries are hoping to ease the restrictions gradually,
including Austria Denmark and Norway, but even as thousands of shops reopened in Austria.
its government warned that the country is not out of the woods just yet .
Despite having fewer infections and fatalities than its neighbors the
government is treading cautiously.
The Alpine nation outlined a gradual reopening of the economy in mid-April
starting with garden centers, home Improvement stores
and shops no more than 4,300 square feet or the size of roughly two singles tennis courts.
Austrians will still have to adhere to social distancing rules and are advised to wear masks when shopping.
Whether Austria's plan to reopen the economy will leave a bitter aftertaste remains to be seen but
the World Health Organization's director-general has
cautioned against opening too soon and risking a deadly resurgence of cases.
Lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence
The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly.
But the Austrian Chancellor cited the need to fight for every job as the reason for
pressing on with the reopening of the country's economy earlier than others.
For most European countries however, the end of the lockdown is still uncertain, but Jessica and Elena
are already creating their to-do lists for once they are out of quarantine.
We're gonna go out here in Venice and do what we used to do
that it seems like at the time normal and now we enjoy so much and be together have
a meal, have a dinner and walk around Venice with no restriction.
The first thing I think it would be to go to the parks
Because they closed all the parks here.
I don't know. I think it would be nice to just....and the sun. I miss the sun.
Take a walk. Yeah.
Thanks so much for watching our video.
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