As an Italian in Philly, I didn’t want the U.S. to repeat my country’s mistakes | Opinion

As an Italian, watching the response of this city and country to COVID-19 has an eerily familiar feel. Italy quickly became ground zero for COVID-19, before the U.S. came to have the world’s most cases. The crisis has nearly brought my country to its knees. Since early March, Italy has been on national lockdown, but the prevention measures did not happen right away. At first, the government’s recommendation to stay at home was limited to a few northern districts, which threw everyone into a panic.

Citizens’ initial reactions were the same as in many other countries, the U.S. included: the government was overreacting; closing businesses was crazy; people just had to be more careful and exercise more hygienic behavior, but life must go on.

That is when the number of cases and deaths started increasing exponentially, bringing the Italian government to put the entire country into quarantine. In a month, we went from around 1,500 to 105,792 (as of March 31) cases, with nearly 16,000 deaths as I write. Three weeks ago, my own city, Milan, had around 3,258 cases, close to the number Philadelphia County currently has. Now, Milan has more than 11,000 cases.

While this crisis raged back home, I have been here, in Philadelphia — terrified for my family. My family and friends have been in quarantine for a month now as my country remains shutdown, all the while knowing I could not go back were anything to happen to them. At the same time, I had hope for the United States, which still had the opportunity to learn from the Italian situation and prevent the pandemic.

Instead, it’s been like living the same nightmare all over again.

I first saw that the U.S. hadn’t learned anything from the rest of the world on March 26. That day, I left my home for the first time in nearly two weeks. Walking over the Chestnut Street Bridge, I saw people jogging, strolling, and having picnics in Schuylkill River Park. In a different time, this would be a normal scene of people enjoying a picturesque spring day. But against the backdrop of the pandemic, this sight terrified me.

Something was wrong. The state restrictions on businesses and personal activities — including congregating in groups — clearly weren’t working. What is the point of closing schools and businesses if people are still gathering, ignoring social distancing and measures that could save lives? The curve won’t flatten by itself if institutions do not enforce isolation.

Just around the corner, the cases in New York and New Jersey are appalling; it feels like looking into a crystal ball. Philadelphia’s reaction to the COVID-19 crisis is lacking, and I expect the city to take stronger measures to avoid the worst. Close parks, involve the police, fine people, you name it — things can’t go on like this. Americans may have seen those videos of Italian mayors shouting and threatening their citizens to stay home and found them funny. In context, they are not funny — they are grave.

I know relatives of friends back home who died alone because no one was allowed near them. Even funerals to mourn the lost are forbidden now. I have friends working in Italian hospitals in constant danger, broken by what they see daily. I don’t want Philadelphia to go through this same pain. I don’t want health-care providers to have to decide who to save and who to let die.

The United States is already getting there. The health-care system here is not ready to face a crisis like this — no system is — and Philadelphia is not an exception. Mayor Jim Kenney and Gov. Tom Wolf should not underestimate the situation. This is not a game. I am imploring them to act more strongly — to close state parks, monitor the stay-at-home order, do enough before it is too late.

Dacia Pajé is a doctoral student at Drexel University.