Former Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro discussed the Coronavirus emergency in Italy and China in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Milano based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We start again! It can be done, here in China they are succeeding, we are going towards normality. And this is the message that must reach the whole world. Because the coronavirus spares no one in every corner of the planet, but it can be beaten by joining forces. By acting as a community.”
The Guangzhou Evergrande coach then discussed his return to China on Friday.
“As soon as I arrived, they swabbed me, for me it was the third one, and measured my temperature. Then I had to sign a form stating where I’d been for the last month and whether I’d been seeing infected people. At that point, as happens to everyone who enters the country from abroad, at least those who come from places already affected by the virus, you are quarantined for two weeks. If you have a place to stay, otherwise they will put you up in hotels equipped to guarantee isolation.”
The 46-year-old Italian then highlighted how taking important measures can help to lower the spread of the virus.
“Yeah and this must be the positive message for us Italians and the rest of the world. We can eradicate this evil but we need severity and a great organization.”
Cannavaro didn’t shy away from the fact that the spread was slowed due to the fact that the Chinese government is a dictatorship.
“True to a point. The Chinese are a great people we must admire. A billion and a half people understood what they had to do to save themselves.”
The former Juventus and Real Madrid defender then discussed his personal story during the most critical phase of the emergency.
“When I arrived here at the end of January, as soon as the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, everything was immediately organised perfectly. I was asleep in our new sports center at the time, but sometimes I had to move around to get home, as soon as I left the center I found the first temperature test. Then I would take the ring road and other temperature test in my car, on the motorway there were no tolls to avoid contact with the staff at the toll booths. At the exit, another check. Then I would arrive at home and in my apartment building I would find workers with suits that would measure my temperature again. And when I went back, I’d go through the same checks. Mind you, I’m talking about Guangzhou, the ancient Canton, with twenty million inhabitants and at the same time a thousand kilometers away from the hotbed region. And in fact, there have been few cases in these parts. Forty days later, on my return, life returned to normal here. People are walking around and staying in the area peacefully.”
The 2006 World Cup winner confirmed that the Chinese model is the one to follow to beat the contagion.
“Sure. It wasn’t easy to face a monster like that, because there was no precedent. The sense of community, the fundamental values of life, prevailed. At the cost of sacrifice. The lesson is clear to the world. Many people still don’t understand it. In Italy we have understood it best of all. We are on the right road. The behaviour of the majority is positive. Even if some people are still struggling to understand.”
Finally, Cannavaro discussed the Italian people that are stilling struggling to understand the situation.
“I’ll make a personal example. My dad tends not to understand that he has to change his habits for his and the family’s sake. He has to buy cigarettes from the tobacconist so he can have a chat with his friends in the shop. I’ve made him understand that he’s in danger of being infected and then to take it home to mum. One doesn’t really have to move from one’s home to get out of this situation. The governor of Campania De Luca is right to be severe. Those who think they’re immortal must know that this virus is… democratic. It affects everyone. You see what’s happening with the contagions even among footballers. Besides, you all have parents, grandparents, if you infect them, they’ll have a hard time finding a place in the intensive care unit to be saved.”
The Coronavirus emergency has caused Serie A, as well as many other leagues around Europe, to be postponed to help stop the spread of the contagion.