Open letter from Italy to the international scientific community
As an Italian, I raise my eyebrows every time China is mentioned as an example for the successful containment of this virus.<p>It could do that because it could afford to take the economical hit <i>and</i> because it is an authoritarian state, which means you can get almost everyone to obey, in one way or another. Also, the Chinese Party is what caused this mess to begin with, by allowing this virus to spread all around the world.<p>Why on Earth is this a good model?<p>Undoubtedly for the safety of citizens, but even with all the people shouting about a &quot;fascist revolution&quot; going on with the previous government, it only took <i>three orders</i> to strip everyone of most of their freedoms without anyone batting an eye (especially since no one knows for how long, the April 3rd date is a joke).<p>Quarantining is probably inevitable (although it won&#x27;t help the overloaded ICUs until two weeks from now, so more capacity will always be needed), but following rules in place in an outbreak does not mean one should not question their principles.<p>And this letter should be sent to the media and the government, since both can&#x27;t even understand an exponential, or basic statistics (even with the so-called &quot;peak&quot; reached, <i>cases will keep on increasing</i> until recoveries are due).<p>Personally I&#x27;d like fast-tracking of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs instead (those are the ones which will get out of this mess, quarantining is just flattening the curve, although immensely beneficial), along with setting up place for non-intensive care COVID-19 patients. Every ICU bed freed is a victory.