Ch #1 - THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH

- Bye, mommy, are you going to work? Is it you fighting the Coronavirus? 

Yes, girls. And you should be proud of your mother, Francesca, humbly performing her duties, facing the COVID-19 daily protected just by the fabric of her overall, a few millimetres of buffer between her and the intensive care patients. 

Unprotected by the distance shielding others who comfortably sit behind their home screens, pretending to be experts these days, sharing personal views and opinions on the matter. 

The intent of this post is not to sound controversial, but to be heard nonetheless. This post should be a wake-up call for all who tend to minimize or magnify what is happening around us and serves as public praise for all the hard-working people fighting every day in our hospitals, all the doctors, and medical staff, who know there is no time to lose.

Quietly she goes around her duties without the panic shown by serial hand-sanitizing hoarders, casual about people’s complaints about the restrictions put in place by the authorities. Those same people that in normal circumstances would go to the movies or to a theatre only once a year, or would accidentally stumble into a museum. But only if there’s a reception, of course, with canapes and drinks. 

On a lovely sunny morning, we go out for a walk, the whole family, breathing in the fresh air, some pretend normalcy, out we go, just making sure not to get into crowded places. In the afternoon, she goes back to her overall, to the front line. Not only is she faithful to the Hippocratic Oath she took; she is also an example of culture and civil behaviour, a citizen with rights but also with duties and responsibilities. One of them, guaranteeing the right to health to all of us, together with her colleagues.

That’s what Doctor Carlo Urbani did, when he, in 2003, fought and won the battle against SARS, unfortunately becoming a victim himself. I scroll through my social media, and while some memes are hilarious, and are undoubtedly good for cheering us all up from time to time, I recommend you take some time to have a look at who Carlo Urbani was. His legacy is significant in terms of what protocols to follow, vital to determine the guidelines to contain the contamination levels. 

So thank you, to all the nurses, doctors, and medical staff, there, on the front line, 24 hours a day, limiting the COVID-19 emergency.  To the rest of us, we need to show some common sense. Take the extra time you have because of the imposed restrictions to pause and reflect, maybe try and figure out how to make up for the lost time at work.  

And now go, Love of my life. I cut the rhetoric by repeating the typical goodbye our mothers and grandmothers greet us at the door with, even if it’s almost springtime outside. ‘Put something warm on!’