When will we get out of the pandemic? Are there any drugs aimed at you in the fight against Covid? Can the school be reopened safely? Why are variants scary? What has been the impact of the pandemic on inequalities? These are some of the many questions that the book answers ‘101 questions (and answers) about Covid’ (Minerva) written by Letizia Magnani, journalist and writer, and Susanna Esposito, pediatrician and infectious disease specialist, president of the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders.
“We will get out of it, yes, of course, but when? Social distancing, tracking, tampons, masks will be part of our lives for how long? When will we be able to do without them?”, Ask the authors in the book in a close, precise but also within everyone’s reach. Combining scientific information with open discussion, with questions that each of us has asked in two years of pandemic, between the journalist and the scientist. “In March 2020, our lives were changed by the virus of the century. The Chinese became us and everything changed. When will we get out? The honest answer is: in a few years“, the authors reply.
“The possibility that, after Sars and Mers, another form due to a coronavirus could develop was, in fact, foreseen by some scholars, in agreement with what regularly happens for other viruses, influenza in the head”, explains Susanna Esposito. “However, studies on the subject are very complicated and expensive and, despite knowing the problem, there is often a lack of continuous evaluation. For this reason, the vast majority of countries, especially those with the greatest economic development, have a pandemic plan ready in which indicates all those that are considered the essential things to do to identify a pandemic early and to mitigate its consequences by reducing the spread of the infectious agents responsible “, he adds.
“Susanna and I met because I write for Grazia – says Magnani – and right from the start we tried to tell the newspaper what we were experiencing, looking for authoritative sources who could explain what was happening, because, when we were out. And Susanna did it. She is. Authoritative. That is why I sought her out, interviewed her, met her. We both have two professions in which empathy, coming into contact, trying to understand are fundamental aspects. I have reflected a lot if I too felt first line, whether the journalist is on the front line or not. The journalist almost never witnesses what happens – recalls Magnani – while it happens, he generally reports what others (the sources) have seen or heard or experienced. We will get out of it. science and humanity have the tools to deal with all of this. And journalists do their part, like everyone, like cashiers and grocery store cashiers, they too have been on the front line, I think. “
“When we started writing this book, to understand some of the terms of the contemporary – the authors conclude – we thought that in June 2021 some of the questions and answers would probably be obsolete. In reality this is not the case. Covid has taught us many things. , even to deal with time in a different way. There is a before and there will be an after. We are experiencing the during. With its load of pain, fear, tension, anxiety, but also of positivity. year science has given us vaccines we can rely on, to get out of this nightmare. But now we also know that before everything was not perfect. The pandemic has been and is a magnifying glass, which forced us to focus on latent problems , from the discomfort of children, pre-adolescents, adolescents, to the anxiety of all of us. The long emergency – they conclude – has also highlighted other themes, such as that of advanced democracies, rights and duties, international cooperation, internal relations international. Not everything went well and not everything is to be thrown away “.