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I was speaking to couple Italian friends over the phone to understand how the situation became so worst there, as few days back they were taking this very lightly. I became concerned after i

saw my friends in bay area still going to parties, grand restaurant opening ceremony is still happening, gym i go to is still open and people are coughing(though it can be absolutely

normal) and also friends who traveled from India mentioned not much checking happening in SF airport compared to Asian countries. So i did some research on Italian situation by talking to

people from there and someone pointed out to a ground zero analysis report by Jason Yano providing 6 stages of the Covid-19 spread in Italy. STAGES HOW COVID-19 SPREAD IN ITALY FROM GROUND

ZERO. STAGE 1: You know that corona virus exists, and the first cases begin to appear in your country. Well, nothing to worry about, it’s just a bad flu! I’m not 75+yo so what could possibly

happen to me? I’m safe, everybody is overreacting, what’s the need to go out with masks and stock toilet paper? I’m going to live my life as usual, there’s no need to freak out. STAGE 2:

The number of cases begin to be significant They declare “red zone” and quarantine one or two small cities where they found the first cases and a lot of people were infected (Feb 22nd). Well

that’s sad and somewhat worrisome but they’re taking care of it so nothing to panic about. There are some deaths but they’re all old people so the media is just creating panic for views,

how shameful. People lead their life as usual.. I’m not going to stop going out and meeting my friends am I? It’s not going to get me. Everybody’s fine here. STAGE 3: The number of cases is

rapidly going up. They almost doubled in one day. There’s more deaths. They declare red zones and quarantine the 4 regions where the majority of cases are registered (March 7). In Italy 25%

of the county is under quarantine. Schools and universities are closed in these areas but bars, work places, restaurants and so on are still open. THE DECREE GETS RELEASED BY SOME NEWSPAPER

BEFORE IT SHOULD SO AROUND 10K PEOPLE FROM THE RED ZONE ESCAPE FROM THE AREA THAT SAME NIGHT TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES IN THE REST OF ITALY (THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER). Most of the

population of the remaining 75% of Italy still does what it always does. They still don’t realize the seriousness of the situation. Everywhere you turn people advise to wash your hands and

limit going out, large groups are forbidden, every 5 minutes on TV they remind you of these rules. But it still hasn’t settled in people’s mind. STAGE 4: The number of cases is heavily

increasing. Schools and universities are closed everywhere for at least a month. It’s a national health emergency. Hospitals are at capacity, entire units are cleared to make space for

corona virus patients. There aren’t enough doctors and nurses. They’re calling retired ones and those in their last 2 years of university. There’s no shifts any more, just work as much as

you can. Of course doctors and nurses are getting infected, spreading it to their families. There’s too many cases of pneumonia, too many people who need ICU and not enough places for

everyone. At this point is like being at war: doctors have to choose who to treat based on their survival chance. That means that the elderly and trauma/stroke patients can’t get treated

because corona cases have priority. There’s not enough resources for everybody so they have to be distributed for best outcome. I wish I was joking but it’s literally what has happened. A

friend’s relative died yesterday of corona because they couldn’t treat him. It’s chaos, the system is collapsing. Corona virus and the crisis it’s provoking is all you hear about everywhere.

STAGE 5: Remember the 10k idiot who ran from the red zone to the rest of Italy? Well, the entire country has to be declared under quarantine (March 9). The goal is to delay the spreading of

the virus as much as possible. Now there’s fear, you see a lot of people with masks and gloves around but there are still are people who think that they’re invincible, who go to restaurants

in large groups, hang out with friends to drink and so on. STAGE 6: 2 days later, it’s announced that all (most) businesses are closed: Bars, restaurants, shopping centers, all kinds of

shops etc. Everything except supermarkets and pharmacies. You can move around only if you have certification with you. The certification is an official document where you declare your name,

where you’re coming from, where you’re going and what for. There are a lot of police check points. If you’re found outside without a valid reason you risk a fine up to €206. If you’re a

known positive patient you risk from 1 to 12 years of jail for homicide. FINAL THOUGHTS: That’s what the situation is like now today as of the March 12th. Keep in mind that it all happened

in around 2 weeks. 5 DAYS FROM STAGE 3 TO TODAY Just washing your hands and using hand sanitizes or having a strong immunity won’t help you keep away from contracting the virus. One must

avoid visiting public places and maintain a safe distance from people to avoid getting infected. Credit Jason Yano: twitter handle: @JasonYanowitz Lets all do our bit to fight COVID-19.

Social distancing is the key and trusting the system.