Amid the chaos brought by the covid-19 pandemic, there were reports of people of Chinese descent being shunned, bullied and discriminated everywhere, even in advanced countries like America. In Italy where there are some 310,000 Chinese, it was no difference. While it has been reported that the over 100,000 corona virus cases and over 10 000 death there have surpassed the figures in China, the Chinese in Italy, particularly the 50,000 ethnic Chinese in the Tuscan town of Prato, had escaped unscathed; remarkable as the health officials there said. Prato is said to be the home to Italy’s biggest single Chinese community. The streets there were semi-deserted even before the country was locked down. I suppose being aware of the imminent danger, the Chinese community there locked themselves in even before the government ordered them to do so!
Comments