Coronavirus: Parks Closed & Free Deliveries

Florence mayor Dario Nardella has decided to close the Cascine from March 16 onwards since too many people were seen walking and running in the park this past Sunday.  Other gated parks, such as the Boboli and Bardini Gardens, are already inaccessible to the public; ditto for cemeteries in the greater metropolitan area.  Florence’s Cathedral (Duomo) has just closed to people who wish to pray there because there are not enough face masks for guards and security personnel to keep the religious landmark open.

On the same day, a new service guaranteeing free deliveries of groceries and medicines was instituted for residents of Florence over 65 not suffering from Coronavirus, in addition to the chronically ill or immunocompromised, as announced by a spokesperson from the municipality of Florence.  The organizations that are contributing to making this possible include the Italian Red Cross, city pharmacies and the Misericordia health care clinics and volunteer ambulance service.

For more information, call 055 3282200 Monday to Friday between 8 am and 4:30 pm.

Again in the spirit of keeping residents indoors, the city of Florence has decided to allow cars to remain parked where they are; it is no longer mandatory for owners to move a vehicle on a designated street cleaning day.

In the meantime, the board of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio has decided to donate 3.2 million euro for the medical emergency. Of this sum, 1.200 million euro will be used to acquire respirators for the intensive care units of regional hospitals, and 500.000 euros has been put aside specifically to buy face masks.

The good news is that the 26-year-old Norwegian student who was one of the first cases in Tuscany has recovered and is now in good health.

As of March 16, 2020, 866 people in Tuscany have been diagnosed with Coronavirus.  Fourteen have died, ranging in age from 70 to 98.  The breakdown, province by province, is: one (Florence): one (Siena); four (Lucca); three (Massa Carrara); two (Prato); two (Pistoia) and one (Pisa).  It to be noted that, although densely populated, Massa Carrara has more cases proportionally in the region due the fact that many from the northern Italian Coronavirus hotspot areas came to live in their vacation homes.  (rosanna cirigliano)

To read more in Italian, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.