Milan Journal during Covid

May / July 2020

After the Coronavirus lockdown was released the society awakened to a different world where precautions and avoidances became basic rules.

Adaptions
People had to adapt to a “new normal” in which activities usually carried out indoor were reorganised open air for obvious reasons of distancing, as a sort of response to the #stayhome phase.

Milano_Fase2_001 — Two workers hanging up a billboard in Via Broletto. The stylist Giorgio Armani paid homage to the city when entering in the so called Fase 2.

Milano_Fase2_012 — A celebration of an outdoor Mass in the courtyard of Santa Maria di Lourdes Church in the district Zona 8.

Milano_Fase2_017 — The Friday noon prayer of the Muslim community. The municipality made this football pitch available to allow the celebration in condition of safety distance.

Milano_Fase2_002 — Red circles to delimit and guarantee the security distance on the lawn of the public garden called Parco della Biblioteca degli Alberi, in the district of Porta Nuova.

Protests
At the same time, many people have suffered such a heavy economic damage to make it very difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to be back to their jobs. The government actions contained in the so-called law “Decreto Rilancio” was considered too weak to face the emergency, leading to different kind of street demonstrations.

Basically, these protests represent the opposite side of the adaptations.

_DSC1849 — Protesters with the flags of NURSIND, the union of nursing professions, at Piazza Duca D'Aosta, just ouside one of the buildings beloning to the Lombardy Region.

_DSC3038 — A demonstration of riders outside Palazzo Marino, headquarter of Mayor Sala, to ask the Government to be included in the so-called Sanatoria.

NoDAD_PMarino — A couple looking at a series of protest signs outside Palazzo Marino, headquarter of Mayor Sala. The demonstration was about the government plans for the school system.

November 2020 / January 2021

Zona Rossa, Zona Arancione, Zona Gialla
During the summer obviously the virus was slowly spreading again, even though the hot weather restrained a bit the infections.

As the winter was approaching, Covid was running fast again and a second lockdown was set to begin in November 2020, with a different approach than the previous one.

The government decided to divide the Country in three kind of zones, depending on the Rt rate: Red, Orange and Yellow. Milan was in the red zone, which basically meant that everything was closed, for example the so-called Quadrilatero della Moda, which is the fashion shopping district.

∧ Up: Cover Stories for Mi-Tomorrow newspaper, November 2020.

∨ Down: a story about ANPAS ambulances for MilanoVibra magazine, December 2020. Text by Marta Mereghetti.

January / March 2021

Life goes on
I lost my aunt in December. She was infected. She was 78, but perfectly healthy.

During this period I have barely photographed around the city but I was struck by this digital sign every time I was passing by. The day I decided to take a picture, this woman walked through with her little child whose red blanket matched with the sign on the back, as her mask did. The traffic light was green for them. Life goes on.

I also went back to the church near my home.

At the beginning of March the infections increased again. Swabs continue but vaccines are still in short supply.

_DSC8197 — 11 February 2021. Memorial Day of the first apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes at Santa Maria di Lourdes Church, in the district Zona 8.

_A7_5884 — "Tampone Sospeso" is a quick swab service held by "Brigata Sanitaria Soccorso Rosso" for the most fragile people affected by the intensification of inequalities during the pandemic.

This series is part of a journal about Milan in time of Coronavirus. Another series can be seen here: Portabandiera (Standard-bearer).