“I am in China suffering from coronavirus psychosis: for fear there are even those who resell the used masks”

BEIJING. “At the entrance and exit of the house, the private guards verify documents and temperature at all. Always. And they ask you where you’ve been. ” Maniacal checks in a deserted and sifted Beijing, block by block. The busy city, with over 20 million inhabitants, hyper-trafficked and in constant turmoil, is unrecognizable: “People have lost their heads because the masks are gone, and there are those who steal the used ones and then resell them. The situation in China in an instant has degenerated on many levels ».

Alessio Fortunato, 33, is a wine business professional, former professor at North West Agricultural and Forestry University in Xi’an; has lived in China since 2014, in Beijing for three years. The coronavirus cyclone caught him off guard. He overwhelmed him while on vacation in Manila, the Philippines. «After the announcement of the possible virus, all the pharmacies were stormed and the masks were exhausted within a very short time – says the expert of Abruzzo origins – Very long lines were created in front of the pharmacies waiting for the new ones loads. There are very sad chapters in this story, such as the case of the poor who take up the masks used by the trash to clean them and then sell them on the street or online, since they are nowhere to be found. Fortunately, the Chinese government has blocked many of them and some have been tried immediately. “

The situation precipitated just behind the Chinese New Year, celebrated on January 25th. «Around 20 January many people left the metropolis to go home for the party. It happens every year, cities are empty, restaurants close, supermarkets begin to have less goods because their distributors also go on vacation. I was away from 23 to 2 February, and the return was a feat – says the 33-year-old – I had to fly from the Philippines to China, but the government decided to stop all flights. At Manila airport there was an uncontrollable chaos, without assistance and without help of any kind. The only way for me to return to China was to take a plane at 2 am to South Korea and wait 12 hours to fly to Beijing, without being sure of leaving ».

After an odyssey that seems endless, Fortunato manages to return. A completely transformed city and daily life await him: “On February 3, I landed at Beijing Airport from Seoul, on an almost empty plane. Upon arrival there were quarantine areas. Very few people in the airport and a very tense air. On every single public transport, as well as on the train from the airport to the metro, they checked my body temperature several times. Upon arrival in the apartment building where I live, (as in all the buildings in Beijing now) I found the private guards. They are responsible for checking the documents and if you are a resident there. Then they check the temperature every time you enter and exit the apartment building. They record where you’ve been, and if you come back from vacation, write down the destination. And if you have visited places at risk, they will not let you into the house: you are obliged to go first to have health checks and only then can you go back in ».

Alessio says that the Chinese are afraid of going out and are worried, not so much for the virus itself, because they trust the government and its contagion control activities, but for the economic activities, as everything is stopped. “Even in supermarkets they control the temperature and if you don’t have a mask they won’t let you in – explains Fortunato – In chats information about desperate Chinese people with suspicious symptoms, who have not been visited, have spat in the doctors’ faces screaming that if they die , the same fate will also befall the rescuers. Nonetheless, many are convinced that everything will improve shortly. In theory, distributors should start supplying supermarkets again after 9 February, but even the people who work inside are not sure that this will happen. “

Fortunato’s family in Italy has experienced days of great distress also because communication has been and is difficult, being WhatsApp blocked: the hope is that Alessio will return soon. «I am in constant contact with the Italian authorities – he says – but at the moment those who live outside Wuhan have not been offered repatriation. However, I would like to return to Italy as soon as the flight situation improves, I don’t know when. Some pilot friends of mine say that soon there will be a complete stop of internal and perhaps external air transport in all Chinese airports, to contain the virus. It should last from 7 to 10 days. Meanwhile, the Italian government has stopped direct flights from China, but hundreds of Chinese and foreigners leave the various cities, calling at Dubai, Doha, Moscow and so on. In chats many boast and wonder how, by calling, and then arriving in Italy, there is no control waiting for them. I hope, however, that the situation will improve quickly: I have Chinese medical friends who work with grueling shifts of more than 12 hours to help, my greatest thanks go to them ».