Mr. Federico, 80, says that «they woke us up in the middle of the night. An ambulance arrived at half past two and the doctor swabbed us, then they gave Donato a mask and took him away. ” Scared? “Well, of course yes. He called me a little while ago (last night, ed) to tell me that after the swab they also had blood tests and so far he has tested negative and is doing well, we have also tested negative and therefore we are more relieved. But finding yourself all of a sudden at the center of this story is not a good experience. “The names of Federico and Donato are invented, because in this story there is the risk that someone may think of actions to hunt the bearer. But the rest is reality.
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The 80-year-old who speaks is the father of the 41-year-old man from yesterday morning for all it is the “patient zero”, arrived from China and indicated as a possible vehicle of the virus, even if so far no test confirms it. Signor Federico tells us that besides Donato he has two other daughters and a nephew and that they too “are all right”.
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As he speaks to us, he does not yet know that the husband of one of his daughters instead, he tested positive. And this means that the first-hour medical hypothesis should be correct: that Donato was infected with the virus but at this point he was also cured and has always been well, therefore asymptomatic.
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Precisely for this reason he is still being held at the Sacco hospital in Milan: because experts will try with new tests to find out if he developed antibodies to Covid-19. If he did, it means that he was infected and emerged unscathed.
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Donato works for the Mae of Fiorenzuola d’Arda (Piacenza), a company that deals with plastic and carbon fiber. The voice of his father – who comes from a small town in the Lodi area – explains that «on behalf of Mae he directs two plants in Shanghai, where he has lived permanently for seven years. He visits us three or four times a year in Italy, in this house where he was born and raised, and stays with us for ten days. This time he was unable to come for the Christmas holidays and then he joined us later ». A flight with Air China on January 21st.
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Even on this occasion he had to remain alone a few days but Mr. Federico says that “instead he was no longer able to leave, given the situation that has arisen in China. In this month, since he arrived in Italy, we have sometimes commented on the news about the virus, but he has always been well, we certainly did not expect the scene the other night. I said: what’s going on? We have been living together for a month and have never had anything … ».
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Donato, who has two sisters older than him, he is a technical-mechanical expert and his father describes him as “one who has an absolute dedication for the job and a great sense of responsibility”, who in this Italian month “has always been there, at the computer, to check how things are going in its factories ». What about the offending dinner? «I don’t know what to say. When he returns to Italy, as always, he moves. It’s not that he spends all day at home, of course. He sees his friends, his colleagues. Coming from China, it is normal for him to be referred to the doctors, but then go find out how it went … “.
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Donato’s mother occasionally intervenes in the background to correct some of her husband’s inaccuracies, she then goes to the receiver and says that “I got a big fright anyway, and my son was also upset.” Federico said that as soon as he woke up he felt the need to look at the sky yesterday morning: «My wife and I are believers – she is moved -. I always say that God is a support and that when there is something wrong you have to look at the sky, which is a bit like looking towards him. Up to now even the sky has looked towards us ».
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February 22, 2020 (change February 22, 2020 | 01:05)
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