[Freee-dame]

I think that shutting down our country based at all on what is going on in Italy is misguided. Italy has unique situations which probably make it an outlier in the statistics of all countries. Italy has the second oldest population in the world. Italy has hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals working in factories in and around Naples. At the same time that this virus was spreading exponentially in Wuhan, the Milan area was holding its annual fashion week. Chinese New Year was during the last week of January. Both fashion week and Chinese New Year involved a lot of travel back and forth with China.

In addition to the above very unusual circumstances, Italians are very affectionate people, living with close physical contact among family members, and keeping their elderly home as they age.

[jennychase]

My area is full of Chinese immigrants, and the majority visit native land during the Chinese new year. They brings disease also.

[MayflowerMadam]

All true.

My cousin is home in the USA for a few months — came at Christmas time — so he and his wife are fine.

His children and about 20 grandchildren are still in Italy and are fine.