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Vo, near Padua In northeast Italy, is where the first Italian pandemic death was recorded. This is the city hall, left, and a mural of a health-care worker as Wonder Woman.12,919 cases, 34,984 deaths. Personal fear factor: 3
I drive to Vo, and my fear factor drops faster than ever. How can that be? I am at Ground Zero of the Italian pandemic, where the first Italian fatality was recorded. But Vo is safe. Everyone in the town has been tested not once, not twice, but three times, with the results going to Andrea Crisanti for analysis. There is no town on the planet that has been tested more carefully and extensively for COVID-19 than this one. The last new positive was two months ago.
Mayor Giuliano Martini is also the main pharmacist in Vo. Talk about dedication. When the town went into military-patrolled lockdown on Feb. 24, he, his wife and his son – all pharmacists – locked themselves down inside their pharmacy, sleeping on the floors upstairs. For two weeks. They did so to keep the pharmacy open for crucial medical supplies. “I am a former Boy Scout and a former Alpini,” he tells me, referring to the elite Italian Alpine infantry. “I believe in community service.
Italy made a lot of mistakes in the early days of the pandemic. But it also learned fast and got a lot right. The fatalities and new cases have plummeted since April, and the country has reopened. I am half-Italian and, after visiting Vo and Dr. Crisanti, I am especially proud of my adopted country.Evening Update is presented by S.R. Slobodian.
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