People in Bergamo using excuses to evade lockdown, says Atalanta captain
ByReuters
Updated 23/03/2020 at 21:03 GMT
Atalanta captain Alejandro Gomez has said people in his team's home of Bergamo, the city in Italy most badly affected by the coronavirus epidemic, are using any excuse to try to evade a lockdown.
STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILAN, ITALY - 2020/02/19: Alejandro Gomez of Atalanta BC looks dejected during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg football match between Atalanta BC and Valencia CF. Atalanta BC won 4-1 over Valencia CF. (Photo by Nic
Image credit: Getty Images
Under a government decree, residents are allowed out to go to the supermarket or to work, or to briefly walk their dog, but Gomez said those rules had been stretched to the limit by many.
Solitary outside exercise is allowed if people stay in the immediate vicinity of their home.
"There are still people on the streets," Gomez said in an interview with the sports daily Ole which is based in his native Argentina.
"There are those who go for a run, those who go to the park to do sit-ups, those who take the dog out and spend an hour walking around because they are bored at home or those who lie about going to the supermarket.
"I don't go out running, even though I'm a sportsman and it's my job."
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In Lombardy's northeastern city of Bergamo, 134 family doctors out of 600 -- or 22 percent - have fallen sick or been quarantined, Guido Marinoni, the head of the local association of general practitioners, said. Three doctors have died.
More than 6,000 people have died in Italy from coronavirus, while there have been 63,927 confirmed cases in Europe's worst-hit country. Italy's top flight Serie A soccer league has been suspended since March 9.
The first cases of the virus were reported in northern Italy in the week that Atalanta enjoyed one of the finest nights in their history, beating visitors Valencia 4-1 in a Champions League last-16, first-leg match. They won the second leg 4-3.
"I think there was a lot of misinformation at the beginning and we all took it very lightly. We thought it was just another flu, a virus like any that comes around in the winter, so we kept on living a normal life," Gomez said.
"The other day, the military came to take the crates with the dead and cremate them somewhere else because there's no more room in the cemeteries here. It's incredible. Every morning I get up to watch the news and it's always bad."
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