Italy Skiing Coronavirus - Worried

Thanks for posting.

I think it's useful for people to keep posting their experiences re ski at mo as the more info we have the better to make decisions
My husband has written to the bbc here

Lack Of precision and follow up of corona virus 

Lack of precision regardless corona virus : there have been a number of cases regarding people returning from Italy. Specifically a bunch of kids skiing in bormio. Where is the follow up? Were they covid19 positive? It is not acceptable to simply report cases linked to "Italy " when there are specific quarantined areas . Is it spreading ? Were they returning from the north or elsewhere. No wonder the government can't extend no-go areas if investigative journalists can't be bothered to follow up with any determination. I am currently skiing in Passo Tonale because my insurer expected me to go - if the bbc could have been bothered to do a bit more research into the risks of travelling to northern Italy I may have changed my mind! I rely on the tenacity of the bbc and you have been feeble in this instance. Public service broadcasting my derrière!! 

If the media want to do what it does best get me involved and apply some pressure on this situation

I think it's useful for people to keep posting their experiences re ski at mo as the more info we have the better to make decisions
My husband has written to the bbc here

Lack Of precision and follow up of corona virus 

Lack of precision regardless corona virus : there have been a number of cases regarding people returning from Italy. Specifically a bunch of kids skiing in bormio. Where is the follow up? Were they covid19 positive? It is not acceptable to simply report cases linked to "Italy " when there are specific quarantined areas . Is it spreading ? Were they returning from the north or elsewhere. No wonder the government can't extend no-go areas if investigative journalists can't be bothered to follow up with any determination. I am currently skiing in Passo Tonale because my insurer expected me to go - if the bbc could have been bothered to do a bit more research into the risks of travelling to northern Italy I may have changed my mind! I rely on the tenacity of the bbc and you have been feeble in this instance. Public service broadcasting my derrière!! 

If the media want to do what it does best get involved and apply some pressure on this situation

Very constructive comments. It's been very difficult to drill down into the detail of when and where the cases in Italy originated. For example, I read that ten schools had a conference call with chief medical officer Chris Whitty last Friday and two schools decided to cancel...I'm assuming the other eight are still going ahead but not much follow up on that.

Yes the sweeping 'Northern Italy'is really not helpful at all. I think it is Milan, surrounding areas and resorts that people from Milan are likely to visit at the weekend which are prob most risky.

The other thing to consider though rather than being ill is you may not be able to go back to work immediately when you get back depending on your job.

The BBC have a rolling page with Coronavirus news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-51734185

In terms of updates on those school stories, I'm afraid it may just be there's a shortage of investigative journalists. Or they have followed up somewhere but not in major bulletins as they deemed other aspects of the story to be more significant in the limited time slots.

I did see a story in a local paper today that a school back from a ski trip to Claviere that decided to self isolate on their return (Presumably a precautionary measure as they don't seem to have been that close to an affected area) have all now gone back to school with no virus. I think it might have been a different one to the two that got all the headlines a week or so back when everyone was desperately scrabbling about for something to write about with coronavirus...

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/health/2020/03/03/pupils-and-staff-at-shropshire-school-test-negative-for-coronavirus-after-ski-trip-to-northern-italy/

The resorts in Italy desperately trying to tell people "everything is fine here" would definitely agree that it is unfair to lump the whole country together. The "everywhere north of Pisa" travel advice seems to be the one that is causing confusion and upset.

Corriere della Sera has list of confirmed cases on a region by region, province by province basis
https://www.corriere.it/salute/malattie_infettive/20_marzo_03/coronavirus-italia-positivi-morti-bollettino-3-marzo-regione-regione-94d10106-5d67-11ea-ad92-9d72350309c8.shtml the numbers in brackets are the increase in the number of confirmed cases since Monday.

The Italian government is expected to announce the closure of all the schools and universities in the country from tomorrow in the next few hours. They are also considering locking down some parts of Bergamo after a spike in infections there.

People have also been told keep a distance of at least one metre from other people, greet each other from afar without kisses, hugs or handshakes, avoid crowded places, not to go out even if they only have a light fever and to stay at home if they are over 75 or 65 but are not in good health.

Unfortunately, the Italian authorities haven't been able to identify "patient zero" which makes it difficult to contain the spread of the virus. It is very likely that there are a lot more people infected with it than the official figures suggest.

The Netherlands has advised its citizens to avoid "non-essential" trips to northern Italy because of the coronavirus. The advice concerns the regions of Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria.

Here in Switzerland the number of cases has increased from 54 to 93 since yesterday. The head of the Communicable Diseases Division at the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health today said "The situation is serious and is becoming more and more serious."

The first Irish case confirmed was a teenage boy who, I think, had been on a skiing holiday in the "north of Italy" (I believe with his family rather than on a school trip) - the actual resort has not been identified. I am guessing that he went through one of the Milan airports, probably Malpensa or Bergamo. His entire school was closed for a 2 week period (until March 14th) following his diagnosis and the pupils asked to "self-isolate". They are being monitored by health service staff. Thankfully, so far, there are no further reports of infection in the school.

A second case was confirmed yesterday. Again it was an individual who had returned from Northern Italy. The authorities have said it was unconnected with the 1st case.