Days of an Italian Professor Fighting Against Coronavirus

By Bo Ning

Sara Platto, an Italian associate professor at Jianghan University, has been very busy recently. In addition to her work as a veterinarian and animal behavior expert, she has also shared her personal experience in Wuhan during the COVID-19 epidemic on social media, which has attracted the attention of media outlets from all over the world. So she has received constant interview invitations.

When I asked if she had ever been anxious or depressed staying in Wuhan during the lockdown, she replied firmly, “Never.” Her answers to why she chose to stay are also clear and certain: first, Wuhan is my home, and it would be weird to “escape” from your home; second, she made her own risk assessment and found out it was safer staying at home anyway; third, she and her family could not leave without their cats.

Professor Sara Platto and her son Matteo萨拉和她的儿子Matteo

Why was she never depressed? Her reply was quite simple: there were about ten Italians who stayed in Wuhan. They set up a WeChat group chat, where people who were not so familiar with each other became friends in these times of adversity. Through this WeChat group called “The Survivors,” they share credible information, avoid fake news, and share their daily lives. Like many Chinese who are stuck at home, they have more time to cook and do housework and share various short videos. Like family members, they rely on each other and exchange their thoughts, so that they can have a good laugh every day, making the time at home not so boring. For her, laughter is the best medicine.Even her 12-year-old son has never complained. He has no problem staying at home 24 hours a day. Every day he keeps his daily routine. Whenever his Italian friends called, worrying about his situation, he would say, “It’s OK. I’m fine.” Maybe that’s because his mom has always been positive.

Although life in lockdown and the apps for community bulk purchase once confused her, she felt lucky because her residential community and neighbors around her provided a lot of help, and her university sent her a lot of food every two weeks, so much that she needed to find neighbors to share it all with.

Sarah has been in China for 13 years, of which 8 years have been in Wuhan. She has long regarded Wuhan as her home. After this epidemic, she feels that she is more attached to the city and is more aware of the value of the community. She was impressed by the kindness and help she had received from neighbors she didn’t know before, as well as from a large number of volunteers. At the same time, she strongly agreed with Wuhan’s strict control policy, deeming it the only way to control the spread of the virus.

Through the Internet, she showed the real life of Wuhan and shared short videos such as how to make DIY face masks and disinfectant spray. She also conveys her view that the coming of the epidemic is a stark reminder of our dysfunctional relationship with nature, and we need to reflect on our behaviors and way of life. As there are no tourists visiting the Venice Canal during the lockdown, dolphins that haven’t appeared for a long time are back now. This is a counterattack from nature, which has taken place not only in Wuhan, China, but also around the world. If we don’t reflect and change our behavior, natural counterattacks will come back in some other way. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent another disaster from happening.

江汉大学意大利籍副教授萨拉·普拉托最近很忙，作为动物学专家她除了一直不间断地工作以外，还在社交媒体上分享了疫情期间她在武汉的亲身经历，从而获得了世界各国媒体的关注，采访邀约不断。

当我问及疫情期间，留在武汉是否有过焦虑或者沮丧，她很肯定地回答：“从没有过。”就和解释她留在武汉的原因一样，肯定而清晰：第一，武汉是她的家，逃离让人感觉怪怪的；第二，她做了危机分析，认为哪儿都不去更为安全；第三，她和家人不可能选择自己回国而把宠物猫留下。

为什么没有过焦虑呢？很简单，留在武汉的意大利人大约有10 名，他们组建了一个微信群。就这样，一群原本不那么熟悉的人，成为了共克时艰的患难之交。通过这个微信群，他们分享真实的信息，筛除谣言，分享各自的生活。和中国的众多宅家人士一样，他们有更多的时间做饭做家务，分享各种小视频，像亲人一样互相依赖和倾吐心事，从而每天都能开怀大笑，让宅在家中的时光也不那么乏善可陈。对她来说，开心便是最好的良药。

即便是她12 岁的儿子，也从来没有抱怨过。对他来说，一天24 小时待在家里一点问题也没有。他每天的时间都安排得井井有条，每当意大利的小伙伴问及他的近况，他都会说：“没事，我很好。”或许，这也是因为萨拉一直保持着非常积极的心态。

虽然封闭的生活和社区团购的小程序也曾让萨拉摸不着头脑，但她觉得很幸运，因为她所在的社区和周围的邻居提供了很多的帮助，而她所在的大学每两周会给她送一次食物，量大到她需要找邻居来分享。

萨拉在华13年，在汉也有8年，早已把武汉视为自己的家，而经此一疫，她觉得对这座城市的感情更深了，也更加意识到社区的价值。以前并不那么认识的邻人，如今提供了如此多暖心的帮助，还有大量的志愿者们，都令她印象深刻。同时，她非常赞同武汉所采取的严管政策，认为这是唯一能控制病毒传播的方式。

通过网络，她传递出武汉的真实生活，分享了诸如如何自制口罩和消毒喷雾的视频，也在传达着她的观点：疫情的来临，原因在于人们打破了自然的边界，我们需要反思自己的行为和生活方式。要知道，隔离之下没了游客，威尼斯运河里许久没有出现过的海豚都回来了。这是自然的一次反攻，它不仅仅发生在中国武汉，还发生在世界各地。如果我们不反思和改变自己的行为，自然的反攻还会以其他的方式卷土重来。因此，阻止灾难的来临，关乎每一个人，是所有人的责任。