Reuters

Day six of Italy's nationwide coronavirus lockdown, in Milan

Italy coronavirus lockdown: Milan builds community in quarantine - The Washington Post

A man plays the guitar from a balcony to raise morale on the sixth day of an unprecedented lockdown across of all Italy imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus in Milan

Last week Donata Zanotti, a 46-year-old photographer and yoga instructor, did something she hadn't done since moving here 20 years ago: She said hello to her neighbor.

This business-oriented city in the northern region of Lombardy has earned its reputation for aloofness, at least by Italian standards. But these days, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/italy-coronavirus-lockdown/2020/03/10/f7ed95c4-5ff6-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com">it’s different</a>. As Lombardy struggles at the epicenter of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, Milanese are comforting one another, forging new bonds, growing closer — albeit from a distance.

[Italy ramps up coronavirus lockdown; Merkel warns virus could infect two-thirds of Germany]

Most Milanese are under what amounts to house arrest. All of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/merkel-coronavirus-germany/2020/03/11/e276252a-6399-11ea-8a8e-5c5336b32760_story.html" title="www.washingtonpost.com">Italy has been in lockdown</a> since March 9, but here in the Lombardy region, the quarantine started earlier. Schools closed three weeks ago, and authorities began to shut down theaters, gyms, bars and other gathering places in late February.

The entire region was declared a Red Zone on March 8. People are not allowed to move in or out of it, or even within it, without a permit. But this is no Wuhan, China; the permit is actually a form that anyone can download online. In a typically Italian combination — a love of bureaucracy and an allergy to authority — people issue permits to themselves.

Italy Virus Outbreak

Everyone who can work from home is required to do so; those who can’t may go to their workplaces. Shops are closed, with the exception of supermarkets, groceries, pharmacies and cigarette sellers. People are allowed to shop and take a walk “for the sake of outdoor physical activity,” as the government explains on its website.

Those restrictions now apply to the whole country. The difference in Milan is that the mayor has ordered parks closed since Saturday, to discourage people from jogging and walking around.

[As coronavirus cases grow, hospitals in northern Italy are running out of beds]

“Outdoor activities are allowed on paper, but where is one supposed to go?” asked Andrea Paracchino, a 32-year-old working in visual effects who has been confined for four days to the apartment he shares with a roommate.

“At least we get along,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine going through this with a bad roommate.”

Paracchino’s parents live in the neighboring region of Piedmont, but he decided not to go there during the lockdown.

“That would be irresponsible,” he said. “What if I have the disease without showing symptoms? I am not worried about myself. I am worried for others.”

Elsewhere in Italy, the quarantine is still somewhat preemptive. But Lombardy is in the throes of a full-fledged outbreak. The region has recorded more than half of Italy’s coronavirus cases and the vast majority of its deaths.

Zanotti, the photographer, wakes up each morning at 6 and takes a walk while the city is mostly asleep, to avoid bumping into people. “I need air,” she said, “or I’ll go mad.” She has taken up the habit of stepping out onto her balcony and chatting with her neighbors who do the same.

She’s also posting long-distance portraits of her neighbors on Instagram and participating in group meditation sessions online.

“In this moment of collective trauma, one needs to savor every little moment of beauty,” she said. The architecture of Milan — homes tend to be built around shared courtyards — helps. “People are rediscovering the courtyard as a common space,” Zanotti said. “There’s this sense of unity, which came unexpected.”

[Coronavirus presents real-world test for state-run, single-payer health systems]

Community singalongs have erupted spontaneously from windows in Milan and other Italian cities.

But while hardship seems to have instilled a new sense of camaraderie, conditions are getting harder every day.

Orders have overwhelmed online food shopping. Anna Zafesova, a 50-year-old writer and translator who has avoided outside contact for a week to protect her 66-year-old husband, said she spent hours one day trying to place an order. When she succeeded, she was told to expect delivery in 17 days. “It’s not like we’ll starve,” she said. “But getting some fresh stuff or goodies to cheer you up has become a real challenge.”

The lockdown has proved particularly burdensome for parents who have to juggle working from home with child care. “I am exhausted,” said Serena Cima, a biologist and mother of a 15-month-old. Cima, 40, has been working from home for weeks. “People say that quarantine is an occasion to take a moment for yourself, but I have been in a nonstop routine for weeks.”

[Italy’s coronavirus lockdown upends the most basic routines and joys]

Many families are reluctant to hire babysitters, to avoid contact with the outside, but Cima found a babysitter in the neighborhood who can visit for a couple of hours each day without taking public transportation. “I am lucky, but it’s economically straining.” Authorities have suspended the fees for public child care, but because her son attends a private school, they still have to pay.

Some wonder how long the city can sustain such a lockdown. “I am very worried,” Zafesova said. “Now we are sticking together and singing the national anthem from our windows. But eventually people will start getting nervous.”


Italy extends coronavirus lockdown to entire country, imposing restrictions on 60 million people



Confusion spreads as Italy tries to lock down 16 million people



Italian hand sanitizer Amuchina inspires memes as its producer races to meet demand



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Anna Momigliano

The Washington Post

Italy coronavirus lockdown: Milan builds community in quarantine

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Baby in Cloth Diaper

What I wish they’d told me before I started using cloth diapers - The Washington Post

When my second daughter was born, my fiance and I started using cloth diapers for the most trivial of reasons: A couple we knew handed down to us a 10-piece kit of washable organic cotton diapers that, they told us, was “almost new” because they gave up on using them early on. Almost seven months later, I am a happy, part-time cloth-diaper mom, with an established daily routine alternating three or four changes of washable nappies and three or four changes of biodegradable single uses.

The hand-me-down diapers are of the “fitted” variety (basically thick underpants of towel-like material around which is a waterproof outer layer that lasts several changes). We also bought an all-in-one diaper (the whole diaper needs to be washed at each change) and a hybrid diaper system consisting of one diaper and three inserts (you change the inserts and, depending on how much of a mess the baby makes, the actual diaper may stay clean). So far it has been a good experience, but we’ve had our challenges. Here are five things parents should know before making the decision whether to buy reusable diapers.

Start small, because cloth diapering isn’t for everyone. I know quite a few people who tried it and gave it up. The couple who handed us the kit found it exhausting. They are environmentally conscious people who couldn’t handle the workload and so ended up paying about $180 for something they didn’t use. I talked to a father in South Africa who had to give up cloth diapers because of a drought. I know a mom in Switzerland who abandoned washable diapers after using them for five months; when winter came, they just took too much time to dry. So, wait before buying an expensive kit. Start with two or three diapers to see whether it’s something you can handle, and only then buy in bulk. If it’s not, don’t feel bad about it. We’re all human.

It’s not always eco-friendly. A <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291130/scho0808boir-e-e.pdf">peer-reviewed study</a> published in 2008 by the U.K. Environmental Agency found that “the environmental impacts of using shaped reusable nappies can be higher or lower than using disposables, depending on how they are laundered.” Using cloth diapers in an environmentally optimal way — washing them in full loads, without using a dryer, and reusing them on a second child — can reduce their carbon footprint by almost 40 percent compared with disposable diapers. But washing them in half-loads with a tumble dry might, in fact, defeat the purpose. (It should be noted that the study, which is a decade old, is based on data about diapers <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/291130/scho0808boir-e-e.pdf">made of cotton</a>, a notoriously water-hungry crop, while now diapers made from the more sustainable bamboo are easily available.) So if your primary motivation is environmental, using a dryer is out of the question. This means you’ll have to take into account the time diapers need to dry, which can be days. Also, you’ll need to wash them in full loads, which means you’ll have to wait for at least 8 to 10 dirty diapers to pile up before cleaning them, assuming you plan to wash them separately because poop is involved. Most people I know wash them separately, but we wash them with whites, adding laundry sanitizer.

You’re going to need a lot of them. Because to fulfill their environmental purpose, cloth diapers need to be washed in full loads and line-dried, you’re going to need a lot of them. An unscientific survey among my cloth-diaper-using friends showed that you’ll need about 20 to use them full time or mostly full time. This, of course, has financial implications. The number of diapers you’ll need depends on the model you choose; with pocket diapers, you’ll need fewer, because you can change just the insert (though that might not be true in the first months when infants tend to poop often and less solidly). The price of a single cloth diaper can vary, from about $5 to $20. Using cloth will most likely save you money in the long run, but it requires an initial investment that could be a burden.

Breast-feeding isn’t free. This is how much it really costs.

They’re good for the baby’s skin — but only if you change them often. Cloth diapers are often <a href="https://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/pages/disposables-vs-cloth">praised</a> for being good for the environment and good for the baby’s skin. However, they tend to be less absorbent than disposables, so you need to change them more often. We had some <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/07/19/the-dreaded-diaper-rash-a-pediatricians-advice-for-preventing-and-treating-an-angry-bottom/?utm_term=.8691d3c2fc38" target="_blank">diaper-rash issues</a> before I realized this.

They are cumbersome. This is something I wish someone had told me before I had bought newborn clothes. Washable diapers are cumbersome. They vary depending on the type, with “fitted” diapers tending to be more voluminous than all-in-one and pocket nappies. But they’re all considerably bigger than regular disposables. This means you might need to add an extra size to your baby’s outfits, especially in the first months. For us, cloth diapers and newborn-size clothes proved mutually exclusive, despite the fact that our daughter could wear newborn clothes with regular diapers.

Now I realize this can look quite discouraging. But the good news is that using cloth diapers isn’t as terrible as it sounds once you’ve established a routine. Most reassuringly, it gets better after the first months when the baby starts eating solid food and her stool becomes more solid. Just remember, start gradually. And if it’s not for you, don’t feel guilty: There are plenty of other things you can do for the environment. Buying used clothes and plastic toys is one of them.

An earlier version of this piece incorrectly referred to a hybrid diaper as a pocket diaper. This version has been corrected.

Follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PostParenting">On Parenting on Facebook</a> and join our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/onparenting/">discussion group here</a> to talk about parenting and work. <a href="https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/#/newsletters">Sign up here</a> for our newsletter.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/06/05/we-were-drowning-in-diapers-and-scheduling-sex-but-then-we-got-our-groove-back/?utm_term=.03d0e33dc381" target="_blank">We were drowning in diapers and scheduling sex. But then we got our groove back.</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/08/03/parents-ask-how-to-get-a-child-to-potty-train-its-easy-you-dont/?utm_term=.131606e3bd3f" target=_blank>Parents ask how to get a child to potty train. It’s easy: You don’t.</a>

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Parenting

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What I wish they’d told me before I started using cloth diapers

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Breastfed

Breast-feeding isn’t free. This is how much it really costs. - The Washington Post

I have been breast-feeding for almost six months now and loved every minute of it. My fiance says that, when I attach our baby daughter to my breast, I “glow full of love.” But while enjoying this beautiful experience I also have, less poetically, kept track of all the money we’ve spent on it.

Because despite what you might hear from some <a href="https://kellymom.com/pregnancy/bf-prep/cache-bfeasy/" target="_blank">mommy blogs</a>, breast-feeding <a href="https://www.laleche.org.uk/amazing-milk/" target="_blank">support groups</a> and even from <a href="https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breast-bottle-feeding.html" target="_blank">some health providers</a>, for many women, breast-feeding is far from free.

We have paid about $690 in breastfeeding-related products and services. Almost $250 went into the purchase of an electric pump; at first I tried to stick to a cheap model ($45), but it was noisy to the point that I soon realized that, if I wanted to keep both pumping and my sanity, I needed a better one (found it on sale for $200). About $140 went to a lactation consultant, because Baby and I had a rocky start, but I also had the luck to have an affordable breast-feeding clinic close to home, with both a midwife and a pediatrician available for a weekly hour-long meeting. (U.S. moms should know their health insurance probably covers this – and a pump – but a public-funded lactation consultant wasn’t close enough to where I live in Italy.) Then there were the vitamins ($132), the nursing pillow ($38), the bras (I bought three for $60), the pads (both disposable and reusable: $23 in total), the nipple cream ($13), the bottles (two for $22) and the freezing bags (50 for $16).

The U.S. surgeon general estimates that breast-feeding could save families <a href="https://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/breastfeeding/factsheet.html">between $1,200 and $1,500</a> on formula in an infant’s first year. True, unlike formula, all of nursing expenses are in theory optional (if you are never away from your baby for hours, in which case a pump becomes a requirement). But for mothers struggling with low milk production and/or clogged ducts, having access to a lactation consultant or to a high-quality pump, none of which comes cheap, can make the difference between continuing or giving up nursing. A nursing pillow can be a blessing, especially if you suffer from posture-related back pain. Pads or milk collection shells are a quasi-necessity for those of us on the leaky end of the spectrum, and other items simply make your nursing life less stressful, which seems an entirely reasonable goal to me.

Workplaces must give moms space to pump breast milk. Women share what it’s really like.

“Breast-feeding is truly free only when everything goes 100 percent smooth,” Chiara Daniela Pronzato, an economist at the University of Turin in Italy, told me. And that does not include the indirect costs, i.e., the impact of breast-feeding on a woman’s future earnings, she adds. Pronzato, who is also the mother of three young children, has co-written with fellow economist Emilia Del Bono <a href="https://www.carloalberto.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/no.251.pdf" target="_blank">a paper</a> about the employment status of new mothers: Using 2005 British data from the Infant Feeding Survey, they found a “significant negative relationship between maternal employment and breast-feeding durations,” meaning that women who nurse their children longer are less likely to come back to work within a year after giving birth, and that breastfeeding-friendly corporate policies, such as on-site day care and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2017/01/24/what-a-pumping-room-at-work-should-look-like-for-nursing-mothers/?utm_term=.7d6cb037b394" target="_blank">pumping rooms</a>, increase the likelihood of coming back to work while breast-feeding, but only for the better-educated women.

In a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277373621_Is_Breastfeeding_Truly_Cost_Free_Income_Consequences_of_Breastfeeding_for_Women">separate study</a>, Canadian sociologists Mary Noonan and Phyllis Rippey found that even after going back to work, mothers who have breast-fed longer tend to be more penalized in their income, when compared with formula-feeding mothers and with mothers who breast-fed for shorter periods: A year after childbirth there is “a decline in average earnings for all three groups of mothers,” but “the percentage drop in earnings is most extreme for long-duration breastfeeders.” In other words, the “mommy tax” affects all mothers, but it hurts those who nurse longer more. One of the possible explanations is that women who breast-feed for several months also tend to take longer maternity leaves, which means they could “lose out on promotions that come with increased experience.”

Breastmilk has indisputable health benefits, including its ability to boost the newborn’s immune system and to lower the risk of child obesity. That’s why the <a href="https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/exclusive_breastfeeding/en/">World Health Organization</a> recommends exclusive breast-feeding for six months and suggests supplementing solid foods with breast milk “up to 2 years of age or beyond.” But following that recommendation can be financially challenging even for those living in social democracies with maternity policies more generous than the those in the United States. For instance, I live in Italy, where the law mandates five months of compulsory maternity leave, usually divided into two or one months before childbirth and three or four months after childbirth, during which women receive 80 percent of their monthly wages. After that, they can take an extra six months, in which they receive only 30 percent of their wages. Many American women aren’t that lucky: The Family and Medical Leave Act requires employers to give 12 weeks of maternity leave to new mothers, but that’s unpaid and applies only to firms that have 50 or more employees. True, some states have additional laws and some employers voluntarily provide more generous conditions, but <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/little-change-to-maternity,-paternity-leave-at-u.s.-employers.aspx">only 58 percent of employers</a> offer any kind of pay during maternity leave.

Why all new parents need leave: He took unpaid leave to be with his newborn and his colleagues taunted him

No wonder lower-income moms tend to breast-feed less. It has long been noted that there’s a strong correlation between a mother’s socioeconomic status and breast-feeding rate, with college-educated and wealthier women tending to nurse more and for longer periods. Because education and income often go hand in hand, people have assumed that wealthier women nurse more simply because they are cultivated enough to understand the benefits for their babies’ health and their own finances. Breast-feeding, or the lack of thereof, has been dismissed as an issue of education: If only poorer women knew how healthy breast milk is, they surely would breast-feed more, and save money in the process. This is like telling poor people that they would be less poor if they started to behave like the rich.

Don’t get me wrong, breast-feeding is great. It’s good for babies’ health, and for some women it can be a rewarding experience, an occasion to bond with their child and to feel empowered by their bodies. But insisting on the “breast is free” mantra is deceiving and unfair to those women who cannot afford to breast-feed. These are not fools who don’t know how to budget. They are mothers who need to make a living for themselves and their families.

Follow <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PostParenting">On Parenting on Facebook</a> for more essays, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/02/01/why-read-aloud-day-matters-in-a-world-of-screens-and-busyness-we-find-the-time-for-magic/?utm_term=.2f779319acd9#">news</a> and updates, and join our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/onparenting/">discussion group here</a> to talk about parenting and work. You can <a href="https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/#/newsletters">sign up here</a> for our newsletter.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/08/24/black-women-often-face-an-uphill-climb-with-breast-feeding-heres-how-four-moms-are-coping/?utm_term=.e7fb8d9c1f97" target="_blank">Black women often face an uphill climb with breast-feeding. Here’s how four moms are coping.</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2018/10/12/im-still-breast-feeding-my-year-old-heres-why/?utm_term=.be1e398d24cd" target="_blank">I’m still breast-feeding my 4-year-old. Here’s why.</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/02/19/i-didnt-want-breastfeed-weaning-is-breaking-my-heart/?utm_term=.2d676e75a429" target="_blank">I didn’t want to breast-feed, but weaning is breaking my heart</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/03/03/doctor-says-when-it-comes-to-breastfeeding-your-health-and-happiness-matter-as-much-as-your-babys/?utm_term=.cba1f9ccc715" target="_blank">Doctor says: When it comes to breast-feeding, your health and happiness matter as much as your baby’s</a>

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Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini speaks in Turin, Italy - 13 Apr 2019

Mussolini’s great-grandson runs for a seat in the European Parliament - The Washington Post

During the political convention last weekend of the Italian far-right party Fratelli D’Italia (FDI), leader Giorgia Meloni <a href="http://www.affaritaliani.it/coffee/video/politica/europee-meloni-forza-italia-su-ue-piu-conservativa-noi-rivoluzionari.html" shape="rect">described its platform as “revolutionary.”</a> She vowed to “change everything in Europe” and to move “Europe’s capital” to Rome. While FDI’s campaign for the upcoming European Parliament elections abounds in predictions for the future, the party also seems to have an eye fixed on the country’s past — more specifically, its fascist past under Benito Mussolini.

Earlier this month, Meloni announced in a Facebook video that <a href="https://www.facebook.com/giorgiameloni.paginaufficiale/videos/373286700067327/" >Mussolini’s great-grandson, Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini,</a> will run with the party in the May 26 elections. The video was shot in front of Rome’s Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, a well-known 1940s example of fascist architecture.

There’s little doubt that Mussolini was nominated because of — not despite — his relationship to Il Duce, who ruled from 1922 to 1943. Both Meloni and Mussolini avoided explicit references to fascist ideology, but Mussolini repeatedly hinted he views his great-grandfather as an inspiration.

In an interview with the newspaper Il Messaggero, Mussolini said that he <a href="https://www.facebook.com/giorgiameloni.paginaufficiale/videos/373286700067327/" >“will always be proud”</a> of his family name and that he hopes voters will appreciate the “Mussolini brand.” In his electoral billboards, he claims to <a href="https://roma.fanpage.it/fa-discutere-il-cartellone-del-pronipote-del-duce-caio-mussolini-la-storia-il-futuro-litalia/" >represent Italy’s “history”</a>, and the billboards use a controversial font popular with neo-fascist groups. His slogan is #scriviMussolini, or #writeMussolini.

Officials from FDI either declined to comment or didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

Anna Momigliano

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