A former Apopka High School class president, now living in Italy, is begging her friends, family and strangers here in Florida, to learn from the crisis there, and stay home.
Today, Erica Zwieg spoke to Channel 9 investigative reporter Karla Ray from lockdown. She said it is extremely frustrating to see people not taking the virus seriously, and not doing more to self-isolate.
She said by the time she and her friends knew that they should be social distancing and self-isolating, it was too late, and the country was on full lockdown.
Videos taken from Zwieg’s Northern Italian villa in Manarola still show the beauty of the coast, but the streets are mostly empty.
“You’re just trying to get through, day by day,” Zwieg said. “Instead of worrying about your wallet, you are worried about your life.”
On Skype from lock down, the Apopka native expressed her frustration in how the virus has been handled in America, and particularly in Florida.
On Facebook, she wrote: “I watch you online having dinner parties. I see you out at the bar, I see you at the beach with family and I see you having a casual board game night with friends at home. That was me two-ish weeks ago… Now I live in a nightmare.”
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Just over two weeks ago, Zwieg was hosting a dinner party of her own. It was that night that her friends learned Milan was being put on lockdown. Days later, it was the entire country.
“Looking at the states now, it’s like living this nightmare all over again,” Zwieg said. “I get it, I was like that too, thinking it’s not going to be anything to affect my life for that long of a period of time, but now it’s all of my life.”
Like the rest of Italy, Zwieg can only leave her villa to get food or go to the pharmacy. New restrictions just out this week even banned outdoor solo exercise.
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“By the time we knew we should’ve been isolating, it was too late,” Zwieg said.
Zwieg says Americans should be learning from Italy’s example and handling this crisis differently, before it’s too late.
“That doesn’t mean that you invite your neighbors over to make pizzas, or play cards to pass the time, go to your parent’s house for dinner, or go work out with friends at a distance,” Zwieg said. “You really have to self-isolate and take it seriously.”
© 2020 Cox Media Group
