{"id":35253,"date":"2020-07-27T19:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/not-a-single-resident-on-this-italian-island-has-been-infected-with-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2020-07-27T19:12:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T16:12:00","slug":"not-a-single-resident-on-this-italian-island-has-been-infected-with-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/not-a-single-resident-on-this-italian-island-has-been-infected-with-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"#Not a single resident on this Italian island has been infected with coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Not a single resident on this Italian island has been infected with coronavirus<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy \u2014 Stranded on a tiny Italian island, a cancer researcher grew increasingly alarmed to hear that one and then three more visitors had fallen ill with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Paola Muti braced for a rapid spread of the coronavirus to the 800 closely-knit islanders, many of whom she knows well. Her mother was born on Giglio Island and she often stays at the family home with its charming view of the sea through the parlor\u2019s windows.<\/p>\n

But days passed and none of Giglio\u2019s islanders developed any COVID-19 symptoms even though the conditions seemed favorable for the disease to spread like wildfire.<\/p>\n

The Gigliesi, as the residents are known, social<\/a>ize in the steep alleys near the port or on the granite steps that serve as narrow streets in the hilltop Castle neighborhood, with densely packed homes built against the remnants of a fortress erected centuries ago to protect against pirates.<\/p>\n

Dr. Armando Schiaffino, the island\u2019s sole physician for around 40 years, shared Muti\u2019s worry that there would be a local outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time an ordinary childhood illness, like scarlet fever, measles or chicken pox strikes, within a very few days practically all get\u201d infected on Giglio, he said in an interview in his office near the port.<\/p>\n

\"Armando<\/img>
Armando Schiaffino, a native son and the island\u2019s doctor for some 40 years now.<\/span>AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Muti, a breast cancer researcher at the University of Milan where she is an epidemiology professor, decided to try to find out why it wasn\u2019t happ<\/a>ening this time.<\/p>\n

Were residents perhaps infected but didn\u2019t show symptoms? Was it something genetic? Something else? Or just plain luck?<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Schiaffino came to me and told me, \u2018Hey, look, Paola, this is incredible. In this full pandemic, with all the cases that came to the island, nobody is sick.\u2019 So I said to myself: \u2018Right, here we can do a study, no? I am here,\u2019\u201d Muti said.<\/p>\n

By then, Muti was trapped on the island by Italy\u2019s strict lockdown rules. What was especially puzzling to her was that many of the islanders had had close contact with the visitors.<\/p>\n

Giglio\u2019s first known COVID-19 case was a man in his 60s who arrived on Feb. 18 \u2014 a couple of days before Italy\u2019s first \u201cnative case\u201d would be diagnosed in the north. The man came to Giglio for a relative\u2019s funeral and had been \u201ccoughing all the way\u201d though the service, Muti said.<\/p>\n

The virus is mainly spread through droplets when someone coughs, sneezes or talks. The man headed back on the ferry the same day to the mainland and died three weeks later in a hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Italian<\/img>
Italian scientist Paola Muti Paola Muti poses after an interview in her home at the Giglio Island, Italy.<\/span>AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On March 5, four days before the national lockdown was declared, three more visitors came from the mainland and would test positive on the island. One of them was a German man from northern Italy, the initial epicenter of Europe\u2019s outbreak. He socialized for several days with longtime friends in Giglio, including in public eateries. After a week, due to a bad cough, he was tested on the island and the result was positive. He self-isolated in a house on Giglio.<\/p>\n

There were other known cases, including an islander who had lived in Australia for two years before slipping back onto Giglio in mid-March during lockdown to see his parents. Three days after arriving on Giglio, he developed a mild fever and tested positive, Muti said. He self-isolated at his parents\u2019 home.<\/p>\n

No other case has surfaced on Giglio, including since lockdown was lifted in early June and tourists from throughout Italy have been arriving.<\/p>\n

Giglio is part of Tuscany and its health office quickly sent over kits to test for antibodies to see if others may have had COVID-19. In late April, just before the first lockdown travel<\/a> restrictions would be eased, the islanders had their blood tested, lining up outside the island\u2019s school and doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Of the 800 or so year-round residents, 723 volunteered to be tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all wanted to do it, to be tranquil\u201d about any possible infection, but also \u201cto help science<\/a>,\u201d said Simone Madaro, who had been working at the cemetery while the infected man had gathered with fellow mourners.<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/img>
Residents of Giglio island socialize in the steep alleys near the port or on the granite steps that serve as narrow streets in the hilltop Castle neighborhood, with densely packed homes built against the remnants of a fortress that centuries ago served as protection against pirates.<\/span>AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rev. Lorenzo Pasquotti, the priest who conducted the service for around 50 mourners and who himself was tested recalled: \u201cAfter the funeral, there were greetings, hugging and kissing,\u201d as is the custom. Then came the procession to the cemetery, where \u201cthere were more hugs and kisses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the islanders tested, only one was found to have antibodies, an elderly Gigliese man who had sailed on the same ferry to the island with the German visitor, Muti said.<\/p>\n

Intrigued about why \u201cthe virus didn\u2019t seem to interact\u201d with the island\u2019s native population, Muti hadn\u2019t reached any conclusions by the time she was preparing to leave the island this month. She plans to write up up her study for eventual publication.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible, Muti guessed, that islanders weren\u2019t exposed to enough COVID-19 to get infected.<\/p>\n

That possibility was also voiced by Massimo Andreoni, head of infectious diseases at Rome\u2019s Tor Vergata hospital. He noted some patients are simply less capable of spreading the disease for reasons that are still unclear.<\/p>\n

Chance might have played a role, said Daniel Altmann, a professor of immunology at Imperial College London. \u201cIt could be something more or less trivial \u2014 nobody got infected because through good luck there was little contact,\u2033 he said in an email exchange.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/img>
A ferry leaves Giglio island, near the Italian coast of Tuscany.<\/span>AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Or, Altmann also noted that \u201cit could be something important and exotic,\u201d such as a genetic variant common among the island\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

With many of the Gigliesi intermarrying through generations, Muti would like to do a genetic study someday if she could obtain funding.<\/p>\n

Giglio lies in pristine waters in a protected regional marine sanctuary and the islanders voice relief that they live in a natural environment they like to think is good for health, whatever Muti\u2019s study might determine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an island, as the environment goes, we\u2019re OK, no?\u201d said Domenico Pignatelli, as the elderly man kept company with friends in chairs placed on a stony street atop Giglio.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

If you want to read more Living News<\/a> articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

if you want to watch Movies<\/a> or Tv Shows go to Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a> <\/span> for forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Not a single resident on this Italian island has been infected with coronavirus” GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy \u2014 Stranded on a tiny Italian island, a cancer researcher grew increasingly alarmed to hear that one and then three more visitors had fallen ill with COVID-19. Paola Muti braced for a rapid spread of the coronavirus to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44782],"class_list":["post-35253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-not-a-single-resident-on-this-italian-island-has-been-infected-with-coronavirus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}