ITALIAN DEVASTATION
medical care or you can go out if you are still working.
“You can go to the doctor, chemist or the supermarkets but everything else, like shops, restaurants and the cinemas, are closed. The schools are all closed and the children are all at home.”
The initial panic as the virus spread led to Italians stockpiling and leaving some people scrambling for food.
It’s a scenario all too familiar in the UK but now the Italian authorities have adopted a hardline stance to try to avert that particular headache.
Porrini said: “As soon as the first couple of cases were confirmed it was chaos.
“All the supermarkets and food shops were crazy.
“People were buying everything they could and most of the shelves were empty.
“Now there are no such problems because the authorities have taken action.
“Only one person can go shopping per family and before you do that you need to sign papers because if you don’t have the right documentation you could be fined or even be arrested for going outside without permission.”
Porrini has admitted being housebound is driving his family stir crazy but knows that is a small price to pay if they can remain safe and well as a result.
He said: “My immediate family are all good.
“Hopefully we can all manage to get through the virus without suffering any more real devastation.
“We are just living day by day and we will see what happens.
“It is not a great life right now but we can’t do things any other way.
“We can’t really do much other than watch television or try to keep our daughters entertained.
“I think we have cleaned the house from top to bottom!”
Porrini revealed he was braced for even more bad news when another friend contracted the virus. Fortunately he has been one of the luckier ones and is now on the road to recovery.
The former Juventus star said: “One of my friends also had the virus but he wasn’t as bad.
“He had a high fever and a cough and they told him to self-isolate but now he is getting better.
“We have been told that if we contract the virus then we have to try to self-isolate.
“We are only to go to the hospital if we are struggling to breathe or are short of breath.”
Italy is ahead of the United Kingdom in terms of the coronavirus but the country is still expecting the death toll to become even more harrowing in the weeks to come.
Porrini added: “The Italian government are predicting that coronavirus will peak in the next week or so. They are expecting us to reach the peak at the end of this month.
“After that it might well be another month or two or even longer before we are finally completely rid of it.
“I think Scotland and the United Kingdom are a few more weeks behind us.”
Porrini hopes coronavirus doesn’t have the same impact on Scotland that he and his fellow Italians are currently battling to try to get through.
He is praying the nightmare being endured by everyone right now will finally come to an end sooner rather than later.
He said: “I just want everyone in Scotland to be safe and to do everything they possibly can to stay that way. Hopefully one day, we will all be able to get back to our normal lives again.”
SERGIO PORRINI IS PRAYING FOR HIS COUNTRY