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Original poster

Dp voluntarily going to north italy! AIBU

162 replies

Worriedforhealth · 28/02/2020 09:28

Dp is booking a trip to north italy to watch a few sporting fixtures. Regularly has sporting holidays with his mates.
It is only a long weekend, but will be flying into and staying in the areas that have been affected by coronavirus.
He is booking it this weekend and going next weekend. Although advice is not to go to these areas of italy he said he isnt bothered and wont catch anything anyway.

AIBU to persuade him not to go? I know its his trip, im not going and nothing to do with me but think its a stupid move to still book and go!!
Said when he comes back he will not self isolate and will carry on as normal. Am i over reacting, is it not as bad as the media make out? He cant see my problem!

OP posts:
onalongsabbatical · 28/02/2020 12:20

Once again, the only places in Italy that mean you are required to se-isolate WITHOUT symptoms are the following.

The FCO advise against all but essential travel to 10 small towns in Lombardy (Codogno, Castiglione d’Adda, Casalpusterlengo, Fombio, Maleo, Somaglia, Bertonico, Terranova dei Passerini, Castelgerundo and San Fiorano) and one in Veneto (Vo’ Euganeo), which have been isolated by the Italian authorities due to an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Otherwise you are free to return and not self-isolate UNLESS you have symptoms.

Molly499 · 28/02/2020 12:26

My daughter was supposed to go to Milan next weekend, she has friends in the area, her flight has been cancelled, a lot of trains are cancelled, looks like the locusts have been in the supermarkets as the shelves are stripped of everything. It could be a very costly weekend on all fronts.

Hingeandbracket · 28/02/2020 12:29

I suspect that Italy is going to be in full on pandemic in the next few days
What exactly does that mean?

mrsBtheparker · 28/02/2020 12:30

A lot of sporting fixtures are cancelled and more are likely to be cancelled, could be a waste of money booking flights etc..

Hopeisnotastrategy · 28/02/2020 12:35

My friend’s husband and a few male friends are booked to go skiing in northern Italy soon. As things stand they are still going away but they have changed their plans to avoid this area.

Because they are not arses.

CoolcoolcoolcoolcoolNoDoubt · 28/02/2020 12:48

@HappyHammy wow! Shock

toomuchtooold · 28/02/2020 12:54

What exactly does that mean

It doesn't mean anything exact. I was using the term "full on pandemic" in a casual, inexact way such as you might do on, say, a chat forum, to indicate that I expect the number of reported cases of Covid 19 in Italy to continue to rise exponentially over the next few days to the point where it will not be possible to contain the spread of the disease by locking down these few small towns.

AnneKipanki · 28/02/2020 14:31

Ooh @HappyHammy !

iheartislesofwight · 28/02/2020 15:25

only swishes his hands under water after i've nagged him that's gross in itself, if he can't wash his hands properly whats the rest of his hygiene like ?

GabsAlot · 29/02/2020 00:02

Forget the virus he should be wahsing his hands properly its disgusting

wheresmymojo · 29/02/2020 00:13

The US have just advised against all non-essential travel to Italy (the whole country, not just the North).

It's possible the UK will follow suit perhaps after COBRA on Monday.

Given that the United States is warning all of its citizens not to do what he's thinking of he'd be a bit of a dick to think he knows better

londonscalling · 29/02/2020 03:09

My daughter has come back from a school ski trip to northern Italy over half term. It was outside of the named areas of concern in Italy. The school is still open and the teachers and pupils that went are still going to school. Whilst we don't want to overreact, we are being vigilant though as there is no guarantee they didn't share the ferry home with people who had been in those areas.

HavenDilemma · 29/02/2020 03:23

@Worriedforhealth Anti-Bac will not protect against a VIRUS....

Lifeoverhaul · 29/02/2020 03:50

Anti bac gel does kill many viruses, not just bacteria.

TalaxuArmiuna · 29/02/2020 04:19

its antibiotics that are useless against viruses. alcohol based hand gel is effective against most kinds of microbes, both bacterial and viral. there are a small number of viruses that can survive it though.

antibacterial soap isn't particularly more effective than ordinary soap for either, as soap works by washing all the microbes off the skin anyway so there's no difference in performance if you wash your hands properly. there is some evidence that people are less likely to wash thoroughly if they see that the soap is antimicrobial so it can do more harm than good.

whatever method you use, your hands will get recolonised by microbes again within a few minutes of handwashing normally - some hand sanitizer products leave a residue to allow down this process a bit.

MollyButton · 29/02/2020 06:46

I read that Covid 19 isn't one of the viruses that can survive alcohol based hand gel - which is a good thing.

Dollywilde · 29/02/2020 06:55

Sorry to hijack but since this is re coronavirus and northern Italy - I work in an open plan office of 40. Colleague has been on holiday this week, to Venice. I’m 17 weeks pregnant. Afaik he’s not being asked to self isolate on his return. If anyone was in my shoes would they ask to WFH for a few days? Or is that a total overreaction? Split views from those I’ve asked....
(Sorry OP for the poor etiquette in not starting my own thread but the board is slightly drowning in them!)

QueenofmyPrinces · 29/02/2020 07:08

It wouldn’t be the venue in Italy that would worry me, it would be the airports.

He may be going to a ‘safe’ area of Italy but I’m pretty sure that the thousands of people he’ll be mingling with at both the airport in England and the airport in Italy will have been to unfavourable places.

The thought of touching all those infected surfaces and breathing in the circulating germs that have come from millions of people from who knows where in the world?! No thank you.

RancidOldHag · 29/02/2020 07:20

"If anyone was in my shoes would they ask to WFH for a few days? Or is that a total overreaction?"

I think Venice is outside the affected area, so permission may not be forthcoming, unless you are alr any well set up to work from home.

But if you do opt for this, as the incubation period if 14 days, then you need to over the entire time. There really isn't any point in doing less (as viral load is typically highest just before symptoms show - for any virus, assuming here that this one is not novel in that respect)

EmmaGrundyForPM · 29/02/2020 07:22

I think people on here are over-reacting. The advice is not to go to 11 specific places. Northern Italy as a whole is ok to go to.

DingleberryRose · 29/02/2020 07:56

I think you’re massively overreacting. He can do what he wants and can’t be forced to isolate himself. Only on Mumsnet do you see this level of hysteria.

Parker231 · 29/02/2020 08:04

@Dollywilde - Venice is not one of the areas from which travellers have to self isolate. There are only 11 towns from about 70,000 in Italy affected.

Skysblue · 29/02/2020 09:52

I would be livid. He is an idiot. So selfish of him to risk bringing more of it into the country and not self isolating. He could kill a lot of people and for what, because he’s too posh to watch the sport on tv? This has happened before. Read the diaries about how the plague spread from town to town around UK.

We were going to holiday in Italy this yr but have changed our plans and will be doing Wales. Even if the risk is small it is not one I’ll take with my family. My main concern is all the people from all over at the airport / plane and the recirculated air on the plane.

Abraid2 · 29/02/2020 11:04

You do know that coronavirus is already in Wales, too?