I am currently segregated at home since two weeks now, following the indications of the Italian government to limit the COVID-19 virus spreading.

Being alone, by my own, with few human interactions, it is not much different than the condition i typically live or aim for. Nonetheless it left me with more time to think, that’s why these lines.

I spare you the details of the virus, suffice to say it spreads on November, with more than 150k known cases and 5k death toll worldwide at the time of this writing.

Economy here in Italy has ground to a halt, the effects will be clear within few months. Other Western countries are preparing for the same doom.

Our healthcare system is collapsing, unable to satisfy the need for mechanical ventilation, with doctors and nurses working at an unsustainable pace.

People are nervous, scared by each other, walk at a distance, and get in line in front of groceries and drugstores, the only open shops.

Yesterday i was getting my fifteen minutes of fresh air, buying some food, while two guys grabbed my attention: they were hugged, smiling, dirty, homeless.

They do not care at all about the virus, it wasn’t a priority for them.

Indeed this emergency is especially compelling for us, worried about our parents, upset by the restrictions imposed to our freedom, but has a completely different impact on who is threatened by death and misery every single day.

I collected some fresh numbers in order to understand how many people are in the latter group. It is supposed that starvation affects one in eight people worldwide, causing about 25k human deaths per day.

This virus is scaring just because it is at our doors. We are promptly and rightly prepared to change our habits to stop the pandemic. I am pretty sure we’ll raise again, the virus will be probably not stopped completely, but we’ll be able to control its spreading.

We’ll come back to trust each other, to crowd parks on sunny days, to buy new shiny cars into which getting stuck in a traffic jam. Our economy will flourish.

We’ll also keep ignoring the ones that never cared about this virus, not because they are irresponsible or crazy, but simply because they can’t.

It’s just a matter of perspectives.