I hear of cafes chock-a-block with people in Pacifico, Palermo. Same goes for Beccar and San Fernando. After five months in quarantine, people are so fed up that they no longer care about catching the virus. Many figure that we will all eventually get it, so we may as well catch it while having fun.
Frankly, I see their point. Aaaarggghhhhhhh..........!
Congregation of people like this is a natural consequence of excessive repression, just like in the early days of allowing running when everyone rushed outside at 20:00... now there are far less people running at the same time as people know they are free to do it when they want and actually run because they want to run and not because they just need a change of scenery and fresh air.
I have been to a few restaurants, bars and cafés so far over the past weeks for both takeaway and the recently rehabilitated seated service.
Monday night restaurant in Palermo with more than 10 tables outside on the street but only about 4 were occupied while we were there. Guess it was a chilly night. Went to another that was open on the weekend (!) along the costenera which had a garden area which was pretty full, but it was a gorgeous day and worked in a takeaway plus model with a very limited menu. Staff were very enthusiastic and appreciative of being able to work again.
Have been to many cafes and bars in Palermo over the past weeks for "takeaway" - a coffee and catch up with small groups of friends or solo while sitting in the sun on the street or in a square.
In all cases there were obvious protocols in place with good distancing between the tables and enforcement of the 4 people per table rule.
Most of the punters I have observed have actually been pretty well behaved, with the exception of a few which unfortunately more often than not fell into an older demographic (e.g. walking around without a mask on, not sanitising hands before eating etc.) while there were a few groups of young people / teenagers congregating in public spaces getting loud and drunk.
Everyone who goes out in public needs to understand and accept the risks which are not zero, but are low if everyone plays their part in keeping them low. If you feel you are in a high risk group or in regular contact with someone who is, best thing to do is just stay home - but at the same time don't expect to drag everyone else down with you.
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www.health.harvard.edu
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