Q. Thanks for joining the Hyowon Herald, Andrea. Tell us about the early outbreak of Coronavirus in your region. How bad was it and how did people respond to it?

A. Hello. Well, when we heard the thing broke out in China, we did not take it seriously. We thought it would never reach us. When we saw the homegrown patients, people thought it was just the flu in the beginning. They went skiing and for vacations, including myself. A month after the outbreak, however, the government closed everything, literally everything. It was frustrating. To make it worse, there were almost no more Intensive Care Units (ICU). Out of 2,600 patients across Italy, Lombardy had 1,060 people. Even though we had the best medical system in the country, the patients were reaching the limit. Everybody was scared because people could just die when we run out of that ICUs.

Q. I guess so. In South Korea, we are seeing the second wave. How is the situation there?

A.  We see a little bit of a second wave but not as much as before. After opening “the cage” (quarantine), people were crazy again. Now we have more than 1,500 more cases than in July. 

Q. No wonder! What about the economic impact? Were there government handouts in Italy?

A. The economy saw a 12.8% decrease in productivity, but the gap between north and south remains unchanged. The government handed out subsidies called, cassa integrazione and Reddito di emergenza. The former is *Redundancy Fund, protecting worker’s incomes and the latter for the poor.

Q. Interesting. Here is my last question. Did Coronavirus affect any aspect of your lifestyle? 

A. Yes. Everything seems almost normal again, but people are not as close as before. The best example is our greeting. We used to kiss each other’s cheeks or shake hands, but now it is much less. Instead, we just say Ciao or hit our elbows and fist. The pandemic really changed our behaviour.

By Byeon Jeong-Yun, Honorary Reporter

bjy5876@pusan.ac.kr

*Redundancy fund: Money that a company pays to workers who have lost their jobs because they are no longer needed.