Chinese community showed way in virus response

PRATO, Italy — The way the Chinese community responded to the outbreak of coronavirus in a northern Italian city has exerted a positive influence on other residents, its mayor said.

Matteo Biffoni, the top official of Prato, said many Italians initially thought the virus was a distant issue. But the fact that the Chinese community took it very seriously at the start of the outbreak “had a positive impact on our citizens and therefore we were better prepared when the storm arrived here”.

Known as Italy’s “Little China”, Prato is home to the European nation’s biggest single Chinese community. About one-eighth of its population is ethnic Chinese, according to data on the local government’s website.

Almost three months into the outbreak in Italy, no one in the Chinese community has become infected. That’s despite the fact the city is only 230 kilometers from Milan, one of the hardest-hit metropolises in Europe.

And Prato is below the regional and national averages in infections.

Prato’s status stands against a backdrop of more than 207,000 COVID-19 cases having been reported in Italy, according to World Health Organization figures.

European media such as Reuters, Politico Europe and la Repubblica have reported on the city’s experience during the outbreak.

In a Reuters report, Prato health official Renzo Berti credited the ethnic Chinese with “bringing down the entire town’s infection rate to almost half the Italian average”.

Biffoni said: “In January, the Chinese community closed their shops and factories . ... Everybody started using masks. A food delivery service was put in place and the Chinese started going out less and less.

“When the virus arrived in Europe, ... Italians understood that the Chinese took all these measures because it was a very dangerous infection.

“Here, we didn’t have any Chinese hospitalized or infected and this is the big standpoint, so in terms of comparison with the Italians, the Chinese scored zero.”

Biffoni said that many of the control measures that the city later implemented, such as home isolation and the use of face masks, had already been adopted by the ethnic Chinese.

“This is the reason why Prato was less affected by the virus if we compare it with other places,” he said.

“The Chinese community immediately took the virus very seriously and this was the fortunate fact because this influenced also the Italians. The Italians recognized a strong sense of responsibility from the Chinese community,” he added.

“It means that this Asian community showed a strong attachment to our city. Also at the political level, everybody appreciated the attitude of the Chinese during this crisis.”

Prato has received lots of personal protective equipment, including masks and hand sanitizers, from China, said Biffoni, adding that “some are still coming”.

Weathering the pandemic together is a valuable experience that the city has learned. “This will mark the relationship between our communities, which I imagine will be even closer,” the mayor said.

Prato, the capital of Prato Province, is a historically multicultural city.

A globalized world must not only focus on the interests of a few people, but on the interests of everybody, the mayor said.

Biffoni urged deeper cooperation, noting that other than diplomatic ties, communication among people is also very important. “This is increasingly necessary because the message that has come to us is that we risk being fragile if we don’t (act) together.”