24-03-2020 by Mirai
Vo' a locality in northern Italy managed to beat the COVID-19 coronavirus. This town is today one of the most famous around the world, after the news of the first death from the coronavirus in Italy. Vo' went into total quarantine on February 23. The next day the largest iron sanitary cord in Italian history was built; no one could enter or leave, only food and medicine were entered with prior authorization.
Alessio Turetta, the owner of a brewery in Vo' and a local councilman told the EUobserver: "The cornerstones of our strategy to deal with the health emergency was quarantine and medical tests." The town implemented a model similar to that of South Korea, 97% of the population underwent a test to find out if they were infected. Nothing like this was done anywhere else in Italy. At Vo' 800 swabs arrived in just one day.
At the end of the massive tests on February 29, 3% of the population tested positive for the coronavirus and were placed in mandatory house confinement. "Those who tested positive were contacted directly by the health district: asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic carriers were quarantined at home, while those with serious symptoms, such as fever, were immediately hospitalized," said Turetta.
"Carriers who stayed at home were called many times a day to make sure they were in quarantine, and their health status and body temperature were checked."
Regardless of the test results, all residents were suggested to stay home and limit travel as little as possible, unless they went to the supermarket or pharmacy to stay home.
The strategy worked. When the tests were done again between March 6 and 8, only 1% of the population tested positive for the coronavirus.
Since Monday, March 23, the spread of the virus has stopped and there are no new infections. Some media reported the finding of a new infected but Turetta confirmed that it was a pre-existing case found on March 8.
Not everyone in Vo' agreed with the strategy implemented. One resident said: "When they did the mass tests, they brought many people together and did not respect the safety distance. And I still do not understand how the virus reached a town as remote as ours."
However, it is undeniable that the measures taken in Vo' were successful against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. At the beginning of the measures, the population was upset and concerned, but based on the interviews conducted by the EUobserver, each person did what they had to do to contribute to the containment of the virus.
Turetta is proud of its citizens: "There was a lot of awareness. Everyone understood the situation and acted accordingly."
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