Opening her phone to Italian newspapers to monitor the Covid-19 situation on March 3, Thu shared her feeling of discouragement when the Veneto region, where she was studying, recorded 307 cases of nCoV infection, of which two died.
Thu and three roommates participated in the Venice Carnival, Italy’s largest carnival held from February 10 to February 23 in Veneto (the festival ended two days early due to the epidemic).
Consulting everywhere, Thu and her three friends decided to self-isolate and monitor their health in a rented room of a household.
Mestre, the most populous district in the city of Venice, Veneto region, became deserted during the Covid-19 epidemic.
During the quarantine period, the group of Vietnamese international students just hung around in a room of nearly 40 square meters, combining breakfast with lunch to save money, canceling jogging, and canceling going to the library to read books.
To prevent the epidemic, Ca’Foscari University continuously sprayed disinfectant, allowed students to leave school from February 24 until further notice and organized online learning.
`The school was closed so I didn’t miss any classes during the self-isolation period,` Thu said, saying she would spend time focusing on completing all her homework.
Her younger sister is studying abroad in Japan and plans to return to Vietnam in mid-March, making Thu also eager to return.
`People here are very optimistic so I’m not too worried. Everyone follows the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, proactively hoards food and limits going out. If I do go out, I will use a cloth mask, brought from
Like Thu, many Vietnamese international students in Italy are also worried about dealing with Covid-19.
Huong’s student exchange program lasted 8 months, from September 2019 to April 2020.
To prevent the epidemic, instead of having lunch at the company, Huong often brings food home to limit contact with large numbers of people.
Burano Island, Italy is empty.
Participating in groups and seeing Vietnamese international students inviting each other to return home, Nguyen Hoai An, a master’s student at Parma University, Parma city, Emilia Romagna region, was also confused.
After many days of consideration, An and a few friends arranged their studies and prepared documents to return home, but in the end changed their decision at the last minute.
An said he feels somewhat reassured that the city of Parma has not yet had a situation of food hoarding and people are living normally.
Schools such as the University of Parma have closed for disinfection and stopped extracurricular activities to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
As of today, Italy recorded 27 more deaths from nCoV in one day, bringing the number of deaths to 79, higher than Iran and only behind mainland China.