I've seen a lot of confusing news and reports regarding the novel Coronavirus, but what frightens me most is how the people in foreign countries are downplaying the seriousness of the situation that inevitably will hit them, even though I hope I am wrong.

I live in a town in Lombardy, which at the moment is the Italian region hit hardest by the virus. Lombardy is the densest populated region with 10 million residents and the heart of the Italian economy.

In the middle of February, the town of Codogno (about 40km from where I live) was identified as the source of the local epidemic. Turns out the virus has been circulating since January, but was only identified as COVID-19 a month later.

At the end of February the authorities quickly sealed Codogno off and quarantined it to try to avoid the virus spreading. This is when they started testing people seriously, but it was too late. People from the area travelled all around the nation and internationally while not knowing they were infected, unknowingly bringing the virus all around Italy and the world.

Two weeks later, I am writing this post from my home, while an emergency national decree is urging all Italians to stay home, only go out for necessities or work related matters that can't be completed from home. If I have to go out, I might be stopped by the authorities and will have to fill out a form stating my identity and the reason for going out, where I am going and where from. If anyone lies on this form, they can be sentenced to up to 3 months of jail, or more for severe violations.

Two weeks ago, only Codogno was like this, now it's the entire nation. For reference, Codogno only has 15.000 or so inhabitants, but Lombardy has 10 million and Italy has 60 million.

How did the virus spread so fast? The virus is so dangerous because infected people do not show symptoms for a few days, and have no idea they have it. It looks like it spreads through contact with infected surfaces, coughing, breathing the same air. To fight it, people have to avoid public gatherings (think big packed plazas, concerts, pubs, bar counters, parties, small offices, etc), keep their hands washed, and isolate immediately once they have symptoms.

The danger of the virus is that eventually, a big part of the infected patients are going to develop serious pneumonia which will then have to be treated in a hospital. Hospitals have limited capacity though. In Lombardy, we have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and it's completely free (google it!). Italy also has strong employee rights, so most people have paid time off, paid sick leave, and more benefits mandated by the law.

As you can see in the graph above (blue is Germany, grey is Italy), Germany is "behind" Italy: they have fewer cases, but the situation looks identical to Italy's from just ten days ago.

At the moment, hospitals in Lombardy are operating at 200% capacity and setting up makeshift intensive care units in hallways and break rooms to keep up with the demand of people needing hospitalization for bilateral pneumonia, the most dangerous symptom caused by COVID-19. The healthcare system and government are rushing to make sure there is enough for everyone, but the situation is getting worse by the hour. The Italian population is very old, the oldest after Japan's which is putting even more pressure on the healthcare system.

Why delaying infections is important

In the picture you can see how delaying infections is fundamental in making sure the healthcare system does not collapse.

People are scared, and the streets and roads are mostly empty now. All events, sports, nightlife have been cancelled by the law and what remains open has very strict rules. You can still go to work, but the people are encouraged to work from home and many companies are adapting. Schools and universities are also closed and are trying to continue their day to day using remote conference tools so the students at home can have classes. All Schools and Universities have been closed for almost two weeks now, and will stay closed until April 3rd, for now.

As for me, surprisingly, not much has changed in my day to day life. I work as Lead Developer at Flexhire, and our team is remote: everyone is located in a different part of the world. At least my colleagues don't have to worry about getting infected by me! But jokes aside, the situation has been scary, and the familiarity of my work routine has helped me stay calm in these hard days. It has got to the point where some of my relatives are starting to get flu symptoms, and most others know someone personally that has tested positive to the virus.

The new reality of Lombard residents is forcing a lot of people with office jobs to work from home. It is interesting to see what the effect of it is, and how some people react to the new work routine. For example, some people realized they don't like being at home that much! For me, home has always been the place where I feel most comfortable, but it's not like that for everyone.

But the reason I am writing this post is that eventually, this situation will happen in other European countries and probably all over the world. There are cases of the virus everywhere now and its nature makes it pretty much impossible to contain without very harsh measures. But very harsh measures won't work if the people are not the right amount of scared, because they will think the problem is being exaggerated. Trust me, that's what happened here.

My advice to everyone not yet hit by the epidemic is: get ready, take this seriously, and finally #StayTheFuckHome. On your next trip to the grocery store, make sure you have all necessities covered for a couple of weeks: not because the food will run out but because when the containment measures will be set in place by your governments, people will rush the stores in panic, and you don't want to be out of toilet paper and stuck in a two hour queue that day! This does not mean you have to stock up for the apocalypse, just keep in mind that the moment the government starts taking serious measures in your country there will be crowds in stores, and it's better to avoid them to contain the virus spread.

By the way, seriously, check out the #StayTheFuckHome website: it has a good summary of the information you need about the epidemic.

Also, prepare yourself to work from home. Working remotely is going to be an important part of our job as office workers in the future, and when the epidemic hits your country it will be for you too. Set up a dedicated place for you to sit down and use the computer, make sure the Wi-Fi is good enough, and get a good chair! It's important to be comfortable and also ergonomic when working.

One of the questions I hear the most about working from home is: How do you deal with distractions at home? It's simple, you find a way to get in "work mode". It could be that you get out of your comfy pants and into your work pants, or it could be that you are sitting at the chair, on you are in a specific room, or even that you use a different desktop background. Whatever works for you!

Remember, in the office you have all kinds of distractions that don't exist at home. You won't chat with your colleagues, or get coffee with them, and you won't waste time commuting. You'll save money on gas or public transport, and maybe eating out depending on your lunch break habits.

Don't forget to bond with your colleagues when being remote. Like I just said, at the office we chat and have coffee together, but that needs to happen at some level when being remote too. Make sure to meet face to face virtually at least once a day, maybe for a quick standup and don't feel guilty to have a quick chat on Slack once in a while. It's important to get to know our remote colleagues, because knowing each other builds trust and lets people work better together.

The question I hear most from employers is: How do I know a remote worker is doing their job? That's simple, look at their results. At work, everyone's performance should always be measured by results they deliver. At Flexhire, not much else matters: once you are hired it does not matter where you are, how you work. As long as your communication is excellent, your availability is as agreed and your results are there, we're all good.

Starting today, Codogno for the first time has no new COVID-19 cases to report! The harsh measures taken by our authorities have worked there, where fatalities have been limited as much as possible.

I hope this post can help someone get ready for the inevitable global epidemic we are facing as humans. Take this seriously people, but don't panic. Be careful and follow the suggestions of experts, and if you are in an area at risk, do not get out of your house unless absolutely necessary. Ask your employer to work from home, share this post and any other useful information you can find to them.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck to you and your country!