As Italy struggles with the lockdown due to coronavirus for more than a month, the country is beginning “to see the curve flatten.” This is the scientific way to say that the reported deaths due to the virus on Sunday, April 5, 2020, was the lowest that it had been in the two previous weeks. People are still dying, hospital cases are still appearing, but now there is hope that (at least for Italy) this is coming to an end.
On social media, the people of Italy have begun to spread a message faster than the coronavirus. They are spreading a message of encouragement and support. They are spreading a message of hope to each other and to the rest of the world.
Andrà tutto bene!
translation: “Everything is going to be alright!“, “Everything will be OK!“
It’s roughly equivalent to the encouraging Cantonese phrase jiayou, meaning “don’t give up” or “hang on in there”, which has become a slogan seen on streets across China since the outbreak first began there.
With the symbol of the rainbow that comes out after the rain, “Andrà tutto bene!” has been a message of hope and solidarity for the Italian people.
Italian parents began sharing images on social media of artwork created by their children (out of school at the moment) with this hopeful message.
#andratuttobene #itwillbeok home family work together pic.twitter.com/3keHs0EMDw
— Francesco Assante (@chiccoassa) March 11, 2020
The idea spread quickly, and the slogan is all over social media alongside the hashtag #iorestoacasa (“I’m staying at home.”)
My daughter made this. #andràtuttobene #coronavirus #lockdown #12marzo #iorestoacasa pic.twitter.com/WxwTRELxEy
— Valeria 🇮🇹🇪🇺 (@valfromrome) March 12, 2020
#iorestocasa
The rain is not over. Coronavirus is still a danger. People are still dying. But after a month of lockdown, Italians are encouraged that the attack of this virus is slowing down–the end is in sight–even if it is far in the distance.
As they contemplate what the future might eventually look like after social isolation, economic halt, and widespread pandemonium, there is a renewed sense of solidarity and hope. And so they commit to what they can do for each other … #iorestocasa = “I’m staying home”