Everyday I turn on the tv, and mind you, I don’t watch tv much, there’s news on updates on Coronavirus in Italy, yes that’s the situation we are in. Then I take my phone and see some friends or relatives In Ghana, partying with friends. I can’t tell if they’re waiting

For them to be seeing breaking news every other minute like we are experiencing before realizing or waiting to be infected to realize that it’s real

I remember about two months ago, when Italy’s cases where exponentially increasing, a few of close friends and ‘Italian brothers and sisters’ were discussing this in a group chat: talking about how we had hoped covid19 didn’t get to Ghana because ppl might not take itseriously

Imagine my disappointment two months later when I open Snapchat and instagram and see my relatives and friends jamming like never before even after over 500 cases have been recorded in Ghana. The worst part, they’re all in Accra, the worst hit region in Ghana

It’s unimaginable how people take for granted having precedences to learn from. I spoke to a friend in New York a month ago, before America was badly hit. I said to him “we went to bed with 6 cases all the way in Rome. We are in Milan, up north, yet woke up

With cases registered here as well. We have gone from 6 to 600 to thousands being recorded daily”. He argued with me about how America has great healthcare and all that. I said to him, just prepare just Incase, you never know. Now NYC is chasing numbers of Italy. One state has

Recorded more numbers than Italy. They wake up to new cases everyday. 100’s and thousands of them. You think you’re in Ghana and the cases are not increasing that fast so let’s jam one more time, but trust me when I say it’s not that far away as you think.

One of my Italian sisters cousins went to a party in Texas, because, let’s jam one more time before the lockdown . A girl who wasn’t even showing symptoms at the time managed to infect everyone. And undoubtedly he caught it too. I guess it’s safe to say that even if ppl are

Catching the disease, some people are getting cured. I don’t know who needs to hear this but if you’re being silly with the hopes that even if you catch it, you may be cured or it may disappear at a point in time by itself, know this- cured ppl of covid19 have re-reported

To hospitals with the disease re-appearing. Even when you’re cured, you don’t know for sure if you’re out of the woods. As a person who has been experiencing this situation since 20 February from Milan Italy, not as long as China even, but please trust me when I say STAY AT HOME

And to the misconceptions about Italy not taking this seriously, well here’s a breakdown- you can not go out of your house without signing an auto certification form that states why you are out, if you’re stopped by the police you may be fined and or arrested. You may only go

Out if extremely necessary like buying groceries or medicines.
The only social contact we get are flash mobs at 18:00 daily when we applaud the great medical professionals risking their lives daily
Grocery stores have marked out 1m distances that you must adhere to

Only a controlled number of ppl are allowed to enter the supermarket at a time.There is a constant reminder of what to do on tv, radio:wash your hands regularly, keep a distance of at least 1m, stay at home , & all adverts have been altered to carry the msg #RestoAcasa Stayathome