Italian Mayor Threatens to use "Flamethrowers"
Italian Mayors Exhausted by Their Population Continuing to Leave Home Actively Voice Their Concerns.
Within the past twenty-four hours there was an update posted stating that Italy has just reported 80,050 cases of COVID-19, as their death toll climbs to 8,000 people. Although the US, at 82,000 cases, has just exceeded both China and Italy’s number, that does not lessen the impact that the virus is having in Italy. Italy’s mayors are growing exhausted and frustrated with their civilians because they are not obeying the “stay at home” rules they were given. The entire population has been instructed to stay at home unless there is for work, medical issues, or an emergency and civilians simply have not been capable of doing that.
Giuseppe Falcomatà, the mayor of Reggio Calabria, is particularly exasperated – he Tweeted that he always sees people out jogging and he stopped someone and told them, “This is not a movie. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend.” He also posted a follow up video vocalizing those grievances - “I am the mayor. You will NOT stroll in my town.” It has gotten to the point where some regions have banned all outdoor activity. Citizens seem to think that even if they cannot go to work they can still go “out”. There was another viral video posted that was captioned “You asked for more Italian Mayors losing their minds over quarantine, so here it is.” In that video, the first mayor quoted “…some of you want to have graduation parties. We will send the police. With flamethrowers.” There was another instance where the mayor went out patrolling the streets looking for people that were blatantly breaking the rules. He found two men playing table tennis in a public park and forced them to go home saying, “You cannot play ping pong! I will make you follow this decree!”
You would think that at a certain point, everyone in Italy would understand the gravity of the situation they are facing, but even after thousands of deaths, it hasn’t gripped everyone. The mayors are still searching for a way to get people to abide by the law, and although their social media presence has done an incredible job of getting the word out, it likely will not stop everyone. Will there be a point where everyone actually stays home to avoid the spread of COVID-19?
Written by Rachel Tucker