An Australian expat on day 11 of Italy’s national quarantine has shared details about what living in total isolation is like, and urges her family and friends back home not to ‘panic buy’.
Mother Natalie Thais, who lives in Puglia, shared a stern warning on Facebook, explaining that supermarkets and chemists won’t close in the event that Australia is forced into a lockdown too.
‘Lockdown day #476. Not really it’s like day nine I think,’ she wrote on social media.
Natalie Thais shared a stern warning on Facebook, explaining that supermarkets and chemists won’t close in the event that Australia is forced into a lockdown too
Ms Thais said one person from every family is permitted to go to the grocery store in Italy and people line up for their turn, at a safe distance, outside
‘Tip for my Aussie friends because I love you all so much and it is killing me a little inside seeing some of you all panicking and fighting each other over toilet paper.
‘Even if Australia gets a lockdown… Supermarkets and chemists stay open. Here is what it looks like…’
Ms Thais said one person from every family is permitted to go to the grocery store and people line up for their turn, at a safe distance, outside.
A certain amount of people are permitted to go in at a time and you can’t touch your face while you’re in there, she said.
Her post has gone viral with more than 29,000 shares in just a few days, with plenty of Australians promising to heed her advice
‘You go home, wash your hands, then chill at home. The supermarkets are constantly restocking and no one is hoarding because we know we don’t need to,’ she said
‘You go home, wash your hands, then chill at home. The supermarkets are constantly restocking and no one is hoarding because we know we don’t need to,’ she said.
‘Maybe a LITTLE more than normal so you can do a weekly shop not an every second day shop.’
She urged her fellow countrymen to ‘stop the insanity’ now that she had eased their minds with the facts, because it only serves to harm their own mental state.
‘What you are doing is literally harming those people who live pay to pay and find empty shelves. It is fear breeding fear, which isn’t good for anyone or anything. Please stop it,’ she said.
‘If you are guilty of it? Well now you know you don’t have to do it anymore my friend. Channel that fear-fuelled energy somewhere else other than stampeding through the toilet paper aisle at Coles.’
Ms Thais encouraged those in isolation to use their time wisely, by keeping their general space tidy.
Ms Thais encouraged those in isolation to use their time wisely, by keeping their general space tidy
‘Do some good home workouts, a punching bag sesh, do a massive clean out at home, declutter, bake a chocolate cake, watch a funny film or series, read a good book, connect with your family, call an old friend and stay calm,’ she said.
‘Lean into your concern for this pandemic with a due reverence for its severity and respond with a sense of faith, community, of loving your neighbour (from a distance), of listening to medical experts, and just do what you gotta do…. which I can guarantee you has absoloutely nothing to do with a panic reaction of piling up toilet paper in your garage.’
While she acknowledged that the world is going through an ‘extremely worrying time’ she stressed that panic doesn’t serve anyone.
‘As they say in Italy, andra tutto bene or everything will be okay,’ she finished.
Her post has gone viral with more than 29,000 shares in just a few days, with plenty of Australians promising to heed her advice.