COVID-19: A message
from the future

Italians share what life with COVID-19 will be like in 10 days

10 days – a short film by Olmo Parenti

Olmo Parenti, like many Italians, didn’t take the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic too seriously at first. “My friends and I were almost mocking the few people who believed the issue was serious from the get-go.”

Just days later, the nightmare began: the number of positive cases spiked dramatically, the entire country had shut down and the economy took a nosedive. Overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, hospitals were forced to decide between who would receive lifesaving artificial ventilation and who would be left to die.

Parenti and his friends realized that they had severely underestimated the situation and had perhaps even contributed to the spread of the virus. “We read in the news that the U.S., England, Germany, and France were all taking the COVID-19 progression just as lightly as we had. We decided we had to redeem ourselves in some way.”

So Parenti and fellow filmmakers put out a call for citizens across the country to film themselves in quarantine. “We asked them to talk in first person to the camera and give themselves advice based on their own past behaviour.”

This has been a humbling experience but the cool thing about mistakes is that you can learn from other people’s – so learn from ours and don’t underestimate this.

Olmo Parenti

The resulting short film, 10 Days, features messages from dozens of frightened Italians. Many who submitted quarantine videos chide themselves for not having taken precautionary measures, such as self-isolation and social distancing, as early as they could have and make dire predictions.

Says one young man, “This isn’t all bullshit like you thought.”

A woman in a face mask admits that she used to make fun of people wearing masks and says, “The worst-case scenario? That’s exactly what will happen.”

A teenager in the video reveals that “There are currently kids our age who are intubated and in intensive care”, reminding all ages that quarantine compliance is a must.

Says Parenti, “This has been a humbling experience but the cool thing about mistakes is that you can learn from other people’s – so learn from ours and don’t underestimate this.”

So far 35,713 cases* had been diagnosed in Italy with 2,978 fatalities nationwide.

* As of March 17, 2020

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