Claudia Salvador, and husband Dilberto Pavan their children Tui and Tamati. Photo / Supplied
Claudia Salvador, and husband Dilberto Pavan their children Tui and Tamati. Photo / Supplied
As her family enters week two of self-isolation in a small Italian village, Kiwi-expat Claudia Salvador has a warning for friends and family back home in New Zealand.
With her adopted country in lockdown, the number of cases spiking daily and death toll rapidly rising, Salvador is "shocked" to see friends in New Zealand still out partying, still going to big gatherings and concerts.
"Nobody seems to be taking it seriously, but this is real," said Salvador, who grew up in Tūrangi but moved to the Italian village of Viadana 10 years ago.
Salvador, her Italian husband Dilberto Pavan and their two children, Tamati, 6, and Tui, 4, have been in lockdown in their home, with limited outside time each day, since March 9.
Claudia Salvador, and husband Dilberto Pavan their children Tui and Tamati. Photo / Supplied
Their small village of Viadana is in the Lombardy region in the north of Italy, the country's worst-affected area and first to implement strict isolation rules.
Now the whole country is on lockdown, with nearly 30,000 confirmed cases, more than 2000 deaths and the numbers rising daily.
"You can feel the sadness, the fear. I am scared for my people back home in New Zealand, but it doesn't have to be like this. I don't want people to feel scared, I just want them to feel responsible.
"There will be another concert, another party another time to have your wedding, but if you don't stay home, don't follow the precautionary measures and stop this 'viral tsunami' then for some there will not be a next one. And it could be a member of your own family."
Salvador said in the beginning, when the cases were few, there was little worry.
Tui, 4, holding a sign as part of the social media movement #iorestoacasa (io resto a casa) which means "I'm staying home", in order to stop the spread of the virus. Photo / Supplied
But soon schools and gatherings were closed, in restaurants people had to keep a metre distance, and all of a sudden the number of cases really began to ramp up.
Salvador, who works in importing and exporting, has been out of work for weeks, and so too her husband, a professional rugby player who plays in the country's top championship.
All games have been cancelled until further notice, and the team has not trained together for three weeks.
The restrictions now mean they can only leave their homes between 6am and 8am and 4pm and 6pm each day, and only travelling within 250 metres from their homes.
The rainbows have been drawn by children in their village, and read "Andrà tutto bene", which means "Everything will be OK". Photo / Supplied
They can visit the supermarket and pharmacies, but need permits and are checked by streets' sole occupants - police officers, dressed tip-to-toe in protective equipment,
"Lockdown is not fun, it is no joke, it is certainly is no holiday," Salvador said.
"It is like something out of a movie - we never thought this kind of thing would happen."
Even with one of the best health systems in the world, it was being overwhelmed, Salvador said.
"We do not have enough medical staff, nurses to accommodate the rising numbers. They are working around the clock and they are exhausted.
"You are not allowed to take your loved ones into the hospital, they go in alone.
"There are not enough beds in hospitals for every sick person, they choose who to save and who they don't, and are putting up makeshift hospitals in car parks.
"They are asking doctors who have retired to come out of retirement as there are not enough hands, they are looking at students studying medicine here who have almost completed their degree enable them to graduate earlier in order to get in and help.
"In hospital, your loved ones die alone, they have no one, funerals are banned, they take them away and there is no ceremony and there is no funeral.
"If they are lucky and the medical staff have time they will video call home so they can say their final goodbyes."
As has been seen in social media posts across Italy since the lockdown came into force, the Italian spirit has shone through, with people making the most of their situations.
Despite the lockdown Italians have been staying positive. Photo / Supplied
Where Salvador and her family live is out of the town centre, but each night they can hear singing coming from blocks away where the apartments are more built up.
"It is really nice and comforting."
The parents of children at the local school keep in touch via WhatsApp and organise activities online, including painting rainbows with the message: "Andrà tutto bene", which means "Everything will be OK".
"Now you look outside and there are a massive amount of rainbows in all of the windows."
Her plea for Kiwis back home is if similar measures to Italy come in New Zealand, follow them.
"If it means schools closing, no work for two weeks, so what? Two weeks is worth a lifetime."
