Lombardy, Italy Prohibits ANY Exercise/Physical Activity Outside WHY?

You want to run during curfew. Your sister wants to walk her dog during curfew. Your brother and his girlfriend want to go on a stroll and see the sunset during curfew. An enforced curfew is an enforced curfew.

quarantine is quarantine wrote:

You want to run during curfew. Your sister wants to walk her dog during curfew. Your brother and his girlfriend want to go on a stroll and see the sunset during curfew. An enforced curfew is an enforced curfew.

This. Plus, many are ignoring the bans. We have first hand stories of bars opening back doors in Torino.

douglas burke wrote:

So if someone wanted to go in their yard and do Pushups and Jumping Jacks ETC. in their Yard, that would be Prohibited? Why? You would still be practicing Social Distance and You would not be coming into contact with anyone.

In California Doctors come on TV say, it is still good to get in Exercise Go on a Wolk/Hike or a Bike Ride etc.

When a Rule is put in there is usually a good reason for it, or at least some reason for it

Lombardy, Italy has been hit EXTREMELY HARD, Still I am curious why No Physical Activity outside?

Are you dumb? People there won't stop congregating! This disease is extremely communicable. The numbers on the stat charts only represent who is tested. There are a lot more cases out there. People can only exercise safely if they maintain distance from anyone not in their immediate family. US cities and states will likely disallow activity soon too. It will be the fault of people like you who can't grasp that social distancing means all the time, not just at work, not just when you get groceries, literally 24/7. I don't know how anyone who isn't an idiot can rationalize getting near another human given how many people are infected right now.

It’s a measure too far, they are going to go insane

If I Workout in my Backyard, I am Social Distancing WAY BEYOND the 6 feet they recommend, More like 30 Yards with a solid 15 foot wall between houses.

Mass panic by the authorities.

Fear & paranoia circumvents rational, logical thinking.

The last thing you would want to due is prevent people from going outside and exercising in a crisis where so many people are under tremendous stress & anxiety.

Whether it's walking, race walking, running, etc. these activities are not only physically healthy but reduce stress & anxiety and combat depression.

The authorities should know this - but their logic is suppressed by fear & paranoia.

Here is a link to the article I forgot to post, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51991972

Solution: run to the grocery store. What are they going to do? Say you have to walk, no running on your way to get the food you need to live?

douglas burke wrote:

Lombardy, Italy has been hit EXTREMELY HARD, Still I am curious why No Physical Activity outside?

Because we're weeks into their lockdown and the numbers are still going through the roof?

Maybe social distancing isn't going to do anything if this thing is airborne?

Didn't we fail to understand the methodology of the plague transmission for centuries? Maybe we've got this one wrong too...

Maybe you don't understand that themain problem is the very fast spreading of the infection. If somebody is in a house with a garden, nobody prohibit him to do every kind of exercises, these are advised by the government too.

But we had too many cases of runners who joined small groups, of people going around with the dog in a park spending time speaking with somebody else (not respecting the distance of more than 1 meter), and of people standing together waiting the public buses at every stop.

We, and you, are not disciplined like Chinese, Japanese or South Korean. We refuse to listen to a very simple word : TO OBEYE.

If our behavior can be productive, some time, when we live our normal life, in case of specific emergencies, instead, can only provoke anarchy and confusion.

This is what happens in the Western World.

What I think is foreign to a lot of Americans is that a vast majority of people worldwide DO NOT have yards/lawns like we do in the US. Particularly in older, urban parts of the world, such as most of Europe. Thus these people can’t just go exercise in their yard.

Additionally, as someone mentioned earlier, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s not spread more easily and readily via air, as some studies now coming out might suggest.

We’re lucky in the US, because if it comes to these extremes, then most of us can go into our yards to exercise.

Otherwise, just stay the eff indoors, or exercise alone outdoors. I’ve turned down many offers to run with a buddy. Literally the only person I’ve shared airspace with over the nine days, is my wife. Any run or walk I’ve done has been solitary or with her, and on routes where if/when we encounter people, they are at least 50 feet away. And we live in Colorado, where EVERYONE exercises. Just have to plan ahead.

Renato Canova wrote:

Maybe you don't understand that themain problem is the very fast spreading of the infection. If somebody is in a house with a garden, nobody prohibit him to do every kind of exercises, these are advised by the government too.

But we had too many cases of runners who joined small groups, of people going around with the dog in a park spending time speaking with somebody else (not respecting the distance of more than 1 meter), and of people standing together waiting the public buses at every stop.

We, and you, are not disciplined like Chinese, Japanese or South Korean. We refuse to listen to a very simple word : TO OBEYE.

If our behavior can be productive, some time, when we live our normal life, in case of specific emergencies, instead, can only provoke anarchy and confusion.

This is what happens in the Western World.

Perhaps you don't understand the consequences of Imprisoning people and depriving them of outdoor excercise. This crisis has been causing extreme depression & despair with millions of people. People are losing their jobs, small businesses owners may be finished and lose everything they've put into their business, hard-earned 401k retirement plans are annihilated (I've got two relatives who are probably going to lose their businesses and are severely depressed).

Mainstream economists predict unemployment rates over 20% - Great Depression levels! In the state I live in, unemployment filings went up 1000% percent in freaking day and the system was shutdown! People are depressed and full of anxiety. People are uncertain of their future. People are losing hope for the future.

A little cardiovascular exercise outside in fresh air & sunshine, by yoursel and not with anyone, can do wonders in relieving stress and helping with depression - and you of all people being a running coach should know that! Getting outside for a little excercise and not being couped-up 24/7 can do wonders for your mental health. I know when my late wife was in the hospital for several months before passing, I needed to excercise outdoors to keep my depression from killing me!

Btw, these draconian lockdowns of society don't work. The Executive Director of the W.H.O even said so himself!

"Countries can't simply lock down their societies to defeat coronavirus, the World Health Organization's top emergency expert said on Sunday, adding that public health measures are needed to avoid a resurgence of the virus later on."

And Japan never did any draconian lockdown of their people:

"Look around Tokyo now, and you’ll see no such scene has unfolded. Despite the cancellation of sports events, the closure of schools, and the shutting down of some, but not all, larger entertainment venues, much of Japan continues as normal. There is no quarantine and no enforced closures of bars or restaurants. Even clubs (easy places to get sick at the best of times) remain open."

"If you want to eat ramen at 4 a.m., fine. If you get on the subway, you’ll see it slightly emptier, but still heaving. If you want to rent a car and drive from one end of the country and back again, do it — there’s nothing stopping you. Which means there’s very little stopping the spread of the disease either."

Now see this recent video of downtown Tokyo. People out walking, shopping, riding the trains, socializing, etc. (starts @ 3:30 in):

The World is consumed in fear.....

Video of downtown Tokyo (starts @ 3:30 in):

https://youtu.be/iNoNEK9Ugic

If one lives in a major city I can see this making sense, but what if you live in a more spread out suburb or in a rural area? Anywhere I run I can avoid people by going to the other side of the road or going off the bike path. No human contact necessary.

douglas burke wrote:

So if someone wanted to go in their yard and do Pushups and Jumping Jacks ETC. in their Yard, that would be Prohibited? Why? You would still be practicing Social Distance and You would not be coming into contact with anyone.

In California Doctors come on TV say, it is still good to get in Exercise Go on a Wolk/Hike or a Bike Ride etc.

When a Rule is put in there is usually a good reason for it, or at least some reason for it

Lombardy, Italy has been hit EXTREMELY HARD, Still I am curious why No Physical Activity outside?

They seem unable to respect the minimum safe distance. Interesting that in hardly hit Italy it is 1m while in other countries (for example UK) 2m are recommended. But the rule per se is as dumb as it gets, goes against the fact that doing some form of exercise strengthens the immune system. But they are clearly panicking....

Juice Springsteen wrote:

If one lives in a major city I can see this making sense, but what if you live in a more spread out suburb or in a rural area? Anywhere I run I can avoid people by going to the other side of the road or going off the bike path. No human contact necessary.

Great, you might not get locked down in your house, but if you live in say rural florida and the mayor of miami thinks lockdown is too draconian, but the governor doesn't, it could be a STATE WIDE LOCKDOWN! Your rural situation is not the living condition for most Americans and probably most letsrunners. I'm sitting here debating whether to spend money on a treadmill, money I may need if I find myself furloughed.

There is definitely an argument that we are overreacting:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/stanford-professor-data-indicates-were-overreacting-to-coronavirus

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

Great talk from Bill Gates but who would listen to a guy who invented Windows?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af6b_wyiwI

I live in Lombardia (close to beautiful Varese) and would like to give an update of the situation. First, we can workout in our backyard - if we have one. As another poster pointed Italian cities do not have big suburban housing like in the US , a lot of us live in flats so working out on our lawn is not always an option.

It is peaceful and quiet here since Friday. I live just outside Varese and there are almost no cars going as grocery stores have not been open today where I live. Now, in regards to running I do go out on a run still, in fact I just came back from a 9 mile run through the forest. I do this respectfully - in the sense that literally 30 feet from my house I can access a trail network on which I usually encounter 2-3 mountainbikers or runners on a 60min run. Today no one. So I have absolute minimal encounters. Yesterday, I was stopped on the last 1/4 mile of my run because I decided to run through the town and Gendamerie asked me where I live. Since I was just up the road, they told me politely to run home and to avoid running on the roads but DID NOT technically prohibit me from going into the forest. Bear in mind that yesterday I was still technically allowed to run at about a 2km radius/distance (the rule is shady) from my house.

People are generally accepting of the measures, at least the one I chat to or am in contact with. Bear in mind that HARD measures just have been put in place really today/yesterday. Life in the previous two weeks was still relatively normal - we drive to work or work from home, grocery stores where open and people were walking their dogs outside/ going on jogs. Our bars and cafes are closed since 3 -4 weeks now I believe, which we terribly miss.

Now, my personal opinion on general top-down lock downs and curfews : they are necessary temporarily because our hospital have to deal with the reality (people dying) - so I accept and move along. In fact I rather enjoy live working from home and enjoyed the pleasant weather of the last days on my terrace . However, these curfews absolutely must be of temporary nature and must stop eventually. This is because we cannot forget that the problem goes much much deeper: even though we have free health care our hospitals and health institutes for YEARS have been heavily under-financed. The public sector in Italy is HEAVILY in debt. Also, when Lombardia closed 2 weeks ago we had people fleeing to the south to their family (or beach). Then consider that our population has one of the highest % of elderly people AND that we have a lot of multi-generation houses. You see the difficulty.

Secondly, and probably the most important issue is that we DO NOT test enough for the virus. This includes all of Europe and the US. We do hear the general story that in China, SK and Japan Covid-19 was primarily contained because of the hard government measures taken in terms of curfews but if you read deeper into the story you realise this, if at all, only half of the story: South Korea and finally China did way more tests and changed strategy eventually: they immediately isolated people testing positive instead of mass quarantining everyone on a long-term.

So, this is the situation we are in. We try to maintain good spirits basically. Conte cannot keep up lock-down for much longer (admittedly he said to prolong until 15th of April) because of the heavy economic and financial burden on Italy. Lombardia decided to STOP all production as of this weekend. What does need to change , is the strategy of testing. We need to get a much clearer picture as to who is infected and immediately isolate. I hope this will be done.