Two years ago, David received the message he was afraid of

In Codogno, the local café opened its yellow doors long ago. Traffic flows in and out of the city and it is no longer necessary to wear a bandage outdoors.

Although there are few traces of the epidemic on the surface, it is still difficult for the approximately 15,000 inhabitants to forget what happened two years ago.

– Suddenly it all stops. No one understood what had happened, says 42-year-old David.

Two years after the first outbreak, Italy went through a series of waves of infections. Many had hoped that this winter’s Omicron wave would be the last, but in early March, infections suddenly began to increase again.

On Tuesday, nearly 100,000 new infections were recorded. We see the same increase now in a number of other European countries.

– It is clear that this is not over, says Italian doctor and professor Massimo Galli to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.

Removes measures with increased infection

At the beginning of the epidemic, a number of measures were quickly taken in Italy. On January 31, 2020, Italy declared a state of emergency in the country that has persisted until now.

Although the infection is increasing again, the Italian government has decided to ease the latest Corona measures in the country.

On March 31, the state of emergency will be lifted and from May 1, it will no longer be necessary to wear a bandage indoors. Many experts criticize the government for easing it as the infection continues to spread, while others believe it is time.

– We must be realistic. Researcher and microbiologist Andrea Crisanti says the situation is very different now than it was at the start of the epidemic. 24 Matteogno.

For engineer David in Codogno, it was difficult to put the bandage on and believe the epidemic was over. What happened in March 2020 left deep scars.

– He went quickly. David says this is a small town, so everyone knows someone who died.

He had difficulty breathing

A few days after Codogno closed, David received the message he feared most. His father fell ill and was struggling to breathe.

At the time, we had very little information about what this virus really was. We had no idea what to expect, says David.

The father was one of the first people in Italy to be hospitalized with the coronavirus.

– At first I was very relieved that he was allowed to stay in the hospital, but then I realized that the doctors did not know what to do, says David.

You have not visited the hospital

For several weeks, the family was informed that the father was seriously ill but stable. No one was allowed to talk to him and it was difficult to get information from the hospital.

– I was really scared. We were not allowed to visit the hospital, so we tried to call every day. Often times we don’t get an answer. David says it was a complete mess.

Only a month and a half later, David spoke with his father. Then he was finally on his way to recovery and eventually discharged from the hospital.

– He survived. We have been incredibly lucky. David says many of my friends have lost their parents.

The church was used as a burial

After working from home almost during the pandemic, David has finally returned to the office located in the center.

From the window next to the office, it overlooks a church several hundred years old. When the number of Corona victims accelerated two years ago, the church room had to be used as a mortuary.

During March 2020, 156 people died, three times the number of deaths in the previous year.

“Never before have we lost so many residents in one month, not even during the Second World War,” Mayor Francesco Passerini said at the commemoration of the victims of Corona at the end of February.

Therefore, the infection increases

Italy is not the only country that has experienced a new wave of rising infections. Also in Germany, Great Britain and France, infections suddenly began to rise again in late February and early March.

On Wednesday, more than 580,000 new cases were recorded in one day in Germany. There are new injury records.

Internationally, experts point to several factors to explain that infections are now on the rise again. One factor is BA.2, a more infectious subtype of omicron. This format is already prevalent in Norway and is on the cusp of taking over the rest of Europe as well.

In addition, part of the explanation may lie in the fact that infection control measures have now been largely removed in countries where infection is increasing. This is coupled with the fact that the effect of the vaccine may have begun to diminish.