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Italy's Moment of 'Viral Madness' - a Reporter's Notebook

Jamie Dettmer

   ROME - It was not from delicacy, amid the outbreak this week of
   coronavirus in northern Italy, that Milan's iconic opera house La Scala
   canceled a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. Despite the
   fact that the opera concludes on the tragic death of the heroine, who
   succumbs to tuberculosis, the performance was due to go ahead anyway
   until the regional government announced the cancellation.

   La Scala was another cultural casualty of a contagion that has shaken
   two of Italy's wealthiest and most productive regions, Lombardy and
   Veneto, and is roiling indirectly other parts of the country, too.
   Milan, Italy's commercial capital, has seen its annual fashion show
   postponed as well as the disruption of other high-profile trade shows
   and events. The annual Venice Carnival was cut short and several top
   league football matches have been postponed.

   In a bid to tame the novel virus, the government moved quickly to lock
   down nearly a dozen towns. But many Italians fear the move will not
   stop the virus.

   Anxiety spreads

   Along the so-called boot of Italy, right down to the ankle of Campania
   and the heel of Apulia, anxiety is mounting about whether COVID-19 will
   spread. Coupled with the worry of actually contracting the virus is the
   even greater fear of how the national government and regional
   authorities will react. People are asking themselves whether a
   confirmed case here or there will result in their towns being closed
   down, their schools shuttered.

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