On the first day of massive reopening of activities (THE NEWS ON THE REOPENINGS – THE CALENDAR), in Milan, from 6 a.m. there is a greater influx of passengers on the red subway line. The replacement bus that was in operation before the resumption of the metro runs from Sesto San Giovanni had the word “complete” on the display. On board, in particular, people who went to ensure the opening of offices and shops.
Meanwhile, after the Navigli, it’s up to Corsarola – the name with which the people of Bergamo familiarly call via Bartolomeo Colleoni, which represents the favorite walking place for those who go to the Upper Town – to end up in the storm on social networks because of images taken yesterday afternoon, which show many people walking on the eve of the store openings. (ALL UPDATES)
10:00 – Fontana: “I have no weight on my conscience”
“Of all the great accusations that are made against me, none of these are well founded and therefore they don’t make me sleep at night. Fortunately if I survive it is because I can sleep very well at night. I have no weight whatsoever on my conscience.” So the president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, replied to Mattino Cinque on the choices made during the most acute phase of the Covid emergency. “Those decisions – he said – were taken in the midst of a dramatic situation, which is not even imaginable and that those who have not experienced it cannot understand it”.
9:59 – Over 200 street vendors protest in front of the Municipality of Milan
About 200 street vendors protest in Piazza Scala in Milan over the working conditions imposed by the Covid emergency. Many of them are also excluded from market activity with the reopening, which allowed only the food stalls to reopen. The workers wave tricolor flags while a radio plays Mameli’s anthem. The category addresses the government “because aid does not come and because we have been abandoned, we are invisible” and also asks the Municipality to reopen all the city markets and not just a part as has happened up to now. Today, many took to the streets to express anger and resentment so that respecting the safety distances has become impossible, even if everyone wore a mask, Digos has repeatedly called on the protesters to keep the distance. A delegation of street vendors will be received in the Municipality by the director of the trade area.
9:58 – Milan, 50 people queuing for the re-opening of the Rinascente
At least fifty people queued in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, in Milan, for the reopening of the Rinascente, which opens its doors at 10, like almost all the shops in the center, where the last cleaning and cleaning works are being completed adaptation to anti-covid standards. On all the windows there are signs that explain to customers how to behave. “We haven’t been out for months, we can’t wait to fill our eyes,” says a middle-aged couple, waiting to enter the department store. At the entrance several employees check the respect of distances while an app ensures that the shop is never too crowded. The capacity on the various floors is 1500 people, “but if we see that there is too much crowds we will leave” says a family in a row.
9:48 – Milan, Atm: “fluid” situation on public transport
According to ATM, the situation is fluid on board the trains of the Metro and surface vehicles this morning in Milan with the reopening of most of the production activities. The turnstiles at the Sesto San Giovanni, Cascina Gobba and Repubblica underground stations were closed only around 6:30 am to reach the number of passengers. Similar situation on board surface vehicles. There was only the report of a driver on board the 90-91 line for an excessive number of passengers that required the intervention of local police officers.
9:38 – The Orio al Serio airport reopens, the first flight from Sofia has landed
At 6:51 this morning the first flight landed at Bergamo – Orio al Serio airport: a landing that marks the reopening of the Bergamo airport for civilian flights after the vacuum of the lockdown. It was a Wizzair flight arriving from Sofia and aboard which there were 109 passengers. Shortly after, about eighty people always boarded the same flight to reach the capital of Bulgaria in the morning. No problem of managing the situation, despite the very strict controls, also considering the very small number of passengers.
9:09 – Fontana: “Delicate moment, monitoring is important”
“This is a delicate moment, the most important job will be monitoring, keeping the territory and people affected by the virus under control as much as possible”. The president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, said it in connection with the Mattino Cinque transmission, speaking of the new openings that start today. “There is no doubt – said Fontana – that infections will increase these days, because the more contact there is, the more they will increase. We must try to keep them under control, avoid spreading them in an uncontrolled manner, avoiding the emergence of new outbreaks. We we have to prevent the virus from running again. “
8:56 – Trenord, average turnout at 20% and lower than May 4th
For now, the percentage of filling on trains in Lombardy on this day of reopening of most of the activities after the lockdown is estimated at 20%, with a maximum of 36% on board a single train. A percentage lower than 25% which characterized on May 4, the first step of Phase 2, according to the Trenord company, which introduced an app that reports in real time how crowded the train is. From next week there will also be another service that provides information on how predictably a convoy is frequented while the passenger is choosing the journey and will thus have the opportunity to orient himself.
8:51 – In Milan normalized traffic, no critical issues on vehicles
The influx of car traffic has been regularized in Milan, which shortly after 7 had been very intense: according to the Local Police, the circulation is normalizing. There is still some criticality, but for contingent reasons, such as tilted traffic lights or narrowing of the roadway due to the works, as in Corso Buenos Aires for the new ‘cycle-pedestrian’. On public transport at 8.30 there are no critical issues, except for a few minutes of closing the turnstiles in Sesto Marelli due to the significant influx of passengers, always around 7.30. On 90/91 there were no other interventions: police and policemen continue to monitor the stops with patrols.
8:42 – Mass in the Cathedral, Borgonovo: “We waited for you a long time”
“Dear faithful, we have been waiting for you for a long time. Since that far March 9th we have only seen each other electronically, on TV or streaming. It is very nice that we meet again here as usual to resume our celebrations on the day that commemorates the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II “. This was stated by Monsignor Gianantonio Borgonovo, archpriest of the Milan Cathedral, welcoming the faithful for their first mass after the lockdown. In addition to the usual checks of bags and backpacks with metal detectors for security, it was checked that everyone wore a mask and many of the faithful also wore gloves. On the benches, special signs indicate where you can sit. Excitement for the faithful who returned after two months to church. “I prayed a lot at home listening to mass every evening and I felt more connected to God – explained a lady -. Now, however, I wanted to resume mass because physical presence is needed”. Live broadcasting and streaming helped but “being present with all the precautions is right, you have to live in positivity”, added another woman.
8:35 – Milan, this morning first mass in the Duomo after the lockdown
The Duomo of Milan has reopened its doors to the faithful for the first mass after the lockdown, that of 8 am, which will be followed by other celebrations in the morning at 11 am, 1 pm and in the afternoon at 5.30 pm. The mass was held in the weekday chapel which, with the distancing measures, can accommodate a maximum of 60 faithful. Once this number is reached, the inputs are blocked. This morning there were thirty people present, a bit of all ages, even some young boys.
Among the measures to be respected is that of not carrying out the usual sign of peace among the faithful. At that point of the celebration, the archpriest of the cathedral did not pronounce the words “exchange a sign of peace”. At the time of communion then no more people lined up: the two priests present in the working chapel, once wearing masks and gloves, brought the Eucharist to the faithful by placing it on their hands. Separate routes have been set up to enter and exit the Duomo, at the end of the mass the faithful left the cathedral from one of the central doors and the staff checked that the distance of one and a half meters was respected.
7:42 – Gori: “Concerned about the images of the crowd in Bergamo Alta”
“It is not enough to invoke the controls: even if we had triple the number of Local Police officers we could not be everywhere to check everyone. And in any case we do not have them. We will carry out the controls, but it is primarily up to us”. So the mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, in a video published on his Fb profile late yesterday evening, invites the citizens of Bergamo – city symbol of the coronavirus epidemic – to autonomously respect the security measures for Phase 2 “And while this morning (yesterday 17 May, editor’s note), after a walk on the hills, I returned home refreshed, I had not met a single person without a mask, the afternoon pictures, of Città Alta and Largo Rezzara, worried me and made angry. Were not enough hundreds dead in our city? Do we want to find ourselves in a trouble again in a month ?! I ask you again: please, put seriousness, commitment and rigor in it “.
7:39 – Heavy traffic in Milan, crowds on trolley buses
The traffic entering Milan is much more sustained and is radically different from the recovery during the transition between the lockdown and the so-called Phase 2. The local police are involved in the management of circulation and by the monitors of the operational center entering Milan “you can see the difference”. Situation still quiet on public transport but on the 90-91 trolleybus line, very popular since the beginning of the service, there were episodes of overcrowding and the brigade had to intervene to help the employees of the local transport company in the avenue area Tibaldi.
7:26 – The turnout on trains in Lombardy increases
On board the trains that from all over Lombardy arrive at the Cadorna station in Milan, in the ante-coronavirus period laden with commuters, “there is someone more, but no crowd”. Around 6 in the morning, a commuter, an employee of the Ivri Surveillance Institute, came from Saronno to tell about it. “We have traveled respecting all safety rules, none excluded – he explains -. Probably people in all these months have understood that they must pay attention.” The situation does not change even after 7 am. A midwife from Rescaldina on the Novara-Milan train, who has never stopped traveling because she works in the hospital, speaks “more or less of the same number of people on the train of the days I noticed but someone – he complains – was without a mask “.
7:11 – In Milan in the early morning more people on the vehicles
Since six in the morning there is a greater influx of passengers on the red subway line. The replacement bus that was in operation before the resumption of the metro runs from Sesto San Giovanni had the word “complete” on the display. On board, in particular, people who went to ensure the opening of offices and shops. Everyone had a face mask, not all gloves. The surface vehicles, trams and buses are still traveling empty or with very few people. No waiting, therefore at stops and car traffic in line with the previous days.
7:06 – Today in Milan the Poldi Pezzoli reopens
Unlike most museums in Milan, today the Poldi Pezzoli Museum has decided to reopen to the public again after 78 days, “with great prudence and with respect for the health of visitors and custodians”. During the closing period we kept our public company with our digital initiatives, “but now – declares Annalisa Zanni, director of the Museum – it is right to start again, with due precautions. We are happy with the enthusiasm with which the public followed our Poldi Pezzoli Stories; we have received many ‘graces’, which have spurred us to always offer quality content, precisely in compliance with the mission of the Museum. Now we want to reciprocate this affection and this loyalty by reopening our rooms, now saying thanks to who will want to return to enjoy the irreplaceable beauty of our collections “.
7:01 – Crowd in the upper city of Bergamo, controversy is on social media
After the Navigli, it’s up to Corsarola – the name with which the people of Bergamo familiarly call via Bartolomeo Colleoni, which represents the favorite walking place for those who go to the Upper Town – to end up in the storm on social networks because of images taken yesterday afternoon, which show many people walking on the eve of the store openings. Some are obviously without a mask or wear it lowered. Many seem to be not exactly at a safe distance, also because the streets of the upper city, the historic center of Bergamo, are quite narrow.
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