The only protective mask against the corona virus that can be seen this Monday on the border between Chiasso and Como is worn by a border policeman from the Italian Guardia di finanza. When asked whether he was afraid of being infected, he replied that it was his private business and that he was not authorized to provide information. Otherwise, a non-representative, but unambiguous survey of unmasked passers-by, guests in bars and restaurants, as well as customers and shop staff reveals the following: Chiasso is a mixture of worry, tense waiting and gallows humor. But don’t panic.
Two early wine drinkers in the Svizzero bar opposite the train station. It will not be that bad, they say, after all, they are not in China, and if the virus does spread to Ticino, they will continue to be seen. One of them works as a cross-border worker in the hospitality industry. «If they actually close the border here, yes, then I have a serious problem. But they can’t do that, otherwise the entire Ticino economy will collapse. » – “When we get rid of you, we’ll be happy to accept that,” says his drinking buddy. Laughter, and no, please don’t put your names in the newspaper.
Chiasso is a mixture of worry, tense waiting and gallows humor. Photo: reader photo «20 Minuti»
The pharmacy opposite is called Farmacia internazionale and has been run by the Merloni family for generations. The owner, Gianmichele Merloni, is 82 years old, which is why he would be in acute danger if he were infected with the coronavirus. Nevertheless, he was not worried that at his age a certain degree of fate was inevitable. Protective masks and hand disinfectants have not been available in the pharmacy for days. “It was all bought away by Italians who got nothing beyond the border,” says Merloni. In order to at least offer his customers something, he set up plastic bottles with 70 percent alcohol next to the cash register.
“Hopefully they will close the border, then the Ticino entrepreneurs will finally be forced to hire locals instead of cross-border commuters.”Guest Osteria Corte
On the Corso San Gottardo, the city’s main shopping street, a passer-by says: “Panic will only break out here when the first cases occur. But maybe we’ll get away again. » The border crossing between Chiasso and Como is within sight of the two Osteria Corte Antica tables that stand on the Corso. A guest says: “Hopefully they will close the border, then the Ticino entrepreneurs will finally be forced to hire locals instead of cross-border commuters.”
There is also no disinfectant hand gel in the Coop. Two shop assistants who work here as cross-border commuters raise their shoulders and hands to a “What can we do apart from waiting” gesture. But they also say: “If you really close the transition between Switzerland and Italy here – then we don’t know what to do.”
Half of Italy under quarantine
Somehow Chiasso seems to trust that the coronavirus, which spreads faster and faster across the border than anywhere else in Europe, is afraid of entering Ticino. In Lombardy, schools, universities, cinemas, bars and discos are closed, football games and other events are canceled, and Milan Cathedral is closed. “Half Italy under quarantine” is the headline of the newspaper “La Repubblica” on Monday, “Virus in the north, closings and blockades” of the “Corriere della Sera”. The authorities in Ticino have so far not taken any comparable measures. Are the people of Ticino a little careless?
Franco Cavalli, a doctor from Ticino and former SP group leader, told Tamedia: «This virus is a bit more dangerous than an ordinary seasonal flu virus. There is no need to panic. Closing the border would be an exaggeration and would not stop the spread anyway. » Giangiorgio Gargantini, who heads the Ticino section at the Unia trade union, considers the call for a border closure to be a cheap propaganda exercise by the Lega and the SVP. “Collectively portraying the almost 70,000 cross-border commuters from Italy who work with us as a threat – that is completely absurd.”
Franco Denti, the president of the Ticino Medical Association, disagrees. “When you consider how quickly the virus spreads in northern Italy and when you see how drastic the measures taken by the Italians are, I get the feeling that the Federal Office of Health and the cantonal authorities underestimate the danger,” says Denti am Phone.
Closing the border for at least a few days could certainly help prevent an infection in Ticino. Or at least to delay its appearance, which would give the hospitals more time to prepare. «This has nothing to do with resentments against Italian cross-border commuters. The corona virus is not a racist, »says Denti. “It is a matter of rationally balancing the economic damage that closing the border would do to the concern for public health.” A spreading epidemic, according to Denti, would do much more damage to the economy than a border closure.
And then the president of the medical association says something that several guests in the bars of Chiasso also mention. In the border region it seems to be a kind of running gag in times of the impending epidemic. “If the corona virus spreads in Ticino – then the Gotthard will definitely be closed in no time.”
Created: 2/24/2020, 9:43 PM
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