Fear of being called racists led to spread of coronavirus in Italy

Legal Insurrection:

As I write this, Italy has 47,021 active cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus.

5,129 have recovered. 4,032 have died. That’s 800 more than China (assuming their numbers are correct), and the number is certain to grow.


The situation has become so dire that there are reports healthcare workers in Lombardy, one of the hardest hit areas, have simply stopped counting the bodies.

There were 627 recorded deaths Friday, their biggest day-to-day rise since the outbreak started.

These are very sobering statistics, especially when you consider a little over a month ago, videos were being circulated on social media of Italians going about their daily lives, of the tourist circuit bustling, of markets being full of shoppers, and the like.

This was all happening even as the Wuhan Coronavirus was known to be spreading, because Italy had not yet called for social distancing or any other type of related measures at the time that might have helped stopped the spread.

Those on the outside looking in and who had read reports about the outbreak watched in disbelief as local officials like Florence Mayor Dario Nardella were telling Italians to “hug a Chinese.” It was a patronizing virtue signal to show Italy’s Asian population support, and to prove to the world that Italy wasn’t “racist” after reports of alleged “xenophobic incidents” against Chinese people in Italy as a result of their China travel ban....
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Even after the lockdowns began in late February, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was still telling people that Italy was “a safe place for nationals and tourists alike.”

Beyond Nardella, Italian officials were condemning efforts at the local level, like the one below, to prevent the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus from people coming in from China....
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Virologist Roberto Burioni was labeled a “far-right fascist” for saying in January that anyone returning to Italy from China should be quarantined, according to Politico (sounds familiar).

And though flights to and from China had been suspended, flights from most other countries into Italy were not, meaning alternative routes from China could be used to indirectly fly into Italy.

Not surprisingly, Italy’s half measures and refusal to call on people to practice social distancing caused the country’s cases of the Wuhan Caronavirus to start skyrocketing around the same time the lockdowns were put into place....
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We are still seeing the bogus claims of racism against the Trump administration's efforts to control the virus.  These bogus allegations of racism are as deadly as the disease they are helping to propagate.  They have become a political excuse to attack opponents while ignoring reality.  The overuse of the racism smear is dangerous to your health.

BTW, the Washington Post fact-checker also got the Italy open borders issue wrong by ignoring the fact that even though direct traffic was banned, the Chinese victims could still fly to other EU countries and get into Italy unimpeded.  The World Health Organization also had a massive screw up in controlling the migration of people carrying the virus.