In a long post on Facebook, Italian intensive care doctor Daniele Macchini from the hospital Humanitas Gavazzeni in Bergamo near Milan, at the heart of the outbreak, tells about what it is like to fight the coronavirus on the front line. Since the outbreak of the virus in Italy, hundreds of people have been #COVID19 departed. Sixteen million people in northern Italy have been quarantined.

The message from Macchini makes it clear that the many relativing messages about the #corona outbreak, especially in Italy, are largely unjustifiably soothingly. It calls on his fellow citizens to take the outbreak seriously and urges them to follow the measures taken to combat the disease. He speaks of a war against the virus.

Epidemiologist Silvia Stringhini posted the posting in an English summary on Twitter. Joop translated it back into Dutch. This is the dramatic call Macchini wants to share with his compatriots and the world:

“After a long time thinking about whether I should write what happens to us and if so, I felt that keeping silent is irresponsible. I will therefore try to tell people who are far from our reality how we live in Bergamo in these days of Covid-19 pandemic. I understand the need not to cause panic, but I fear that the message of how dangerous this outbreak is will not reach people otherwise.

I myself have seen with some surprise over the past week the reorganization of the whole hospital, when this enemy was still in the shadows: the departments were 'emptied', activities were discontinued on the basis of careful selection, as well as the admissions to the intensive care unit to reduce so many possible to make beds free.

This rapid transformation created an atmosphere of silence and a surreal emptiness on the corridors of the hospital that we did not understand at first, as if we were waiting for a war to begin and many (including me) were not sure if it would ever erupt, all the way in this severity.

I remember another night conversation, a week ago when I was waiting for the results of a test. When I think about it now, my concern from then on one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I've seen what's happening. Well, the situation is now, to put it mildly, dramatic.

The war has literally erupted and there is continuous fighting day and night. The great need for beds has become reality in all fiercely. One bed after the other is emptied, at an impressive pace.

The signs with the names of the patients, in different colors depending on the operation department, are now all red, and instead of indicating which surgery is to be performed, they now show the diagnosis, which is always the same: double pneumonia (bilateral interstitial pneumonia, red. Joop).

Now let me explain which flu virus causes such a huge drama. [the message continues to compare COVID-19 with flu, red. Joop]. While there are still people who boast that they are not afraid and therefore ignore measures, or who protest because their daily routine is temporarily interrupted, an epidemiological disaster takes place. There are no more surgeons, urologists or orthopedists, we are all just doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to control this tsunami that has overwhelmed us.

Cases multiply, we come on a number of 15 to 20 withdrawals per day, all for the same reason. The results of the tests quickly follow each other: positive, positive, positive. Suddenly, the emergency room is completely overrun.

The reasons for admission are always the same: fever and difficulty breathing, fever and cough, stunned breathing. Radiology always reports the same: double pneumonia, double pneumonia, double pneumonia. All in the hospital.

The one is intubated and taken to the intensive care unit. For others it is already too late... Resuscitation equipment is suddenly worth gold: operating rooms that are not used because the operations have been stopped are set up as intensive care halls.

The staff is exhausted. I saw the fatigue on the faces of people who are normally tireless, despite the exhausting work they have always done. I see solidarity with all of us, no one who ever stops asking our colleagues internists: 'What can I do for you now? '

Doctors who move beds and transfer patients, who administer medication instead of nurses. Nurses with tears in their eyes because we can't save everyone, while several patients at the same time show that their fate is already sealed.

There are no more shifts, no more hours. Social life has been suspended for us. We don't see our families anymore for fear of infecting them. Some of us are already infected, despite the protocols.

Some of our infected colleagues also have infected relatives, and some of their relatives are already between life and death. So be patient, you can not go to the theater, not to museums or not to the gym. Try to feel sorry for the countless old people you could exterminate.

We're just trying to make ourselves useful here. You should do the same: we all affect the lives and deaths of dozens of people. You with yours much more. Please share this post. We must spread it to prevent what is happening here from happening in the whole of Italy.

I end by saying that I do not really understand the struggle to prevent panic. The only reason I can think of is that there is a shortage of masks, but there is already no mask for sale. There's not much research into it, but is panic really worse than neglect and carelessness during an epidemic like this? ”

Italian government imposes quarantine throughout the country
San Marco Square in Venice, where it is usually overhead, was extinct on Monday. On Monday evening, the Italian Government saw the increasing number of infections with the #coronavirus quarantined the whole country. Restrictions on travel and public gatherings that have been in force for the northern region of Lombardy and fourteen northern provinces since Sunday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced. “Stay home, “he recommended his compatriots.

At the beginning of the evening it turned out that the number of deaths from the virus increased to 463 on Monday, compared with 366 on Sunday. About 9172 people have been diagnosed with infection, much higher than the 7300 of Sunday.