Several news sources are reporting that Italy passed the threshold of 1,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday. Italy is one of the hotspots of the COVID-19 outbreak and a big reason behind the Trump administration’s ban on incoming flights from Europe.
The Intercept’s Alice Speri has a piece today explaining that she’d rather go home to Italy than stay in the United States nevertheless.
I have spent the last week looking for flights to Italy — not because of coronavirus-inspired flash sales, but because I would rather go home to a country that’s currently in the grip of one of the worst outbreaks in the world than stay here. https://t.co/RKZ2vEHHqy
— Alice Speri (@alicesperi) March 12, 2020
Um, why?
Last night, after President Donald Trump abruptly announced he was blocking travel from Europe to the U.S. — though officials later retracted and clarified much of that statement — people in Europe raced to airports, reportedly paying as much as $20,000 to try to catch flights out. And still I am trying to figure out how to make the opposite trip.
Even as the death toll back home continues to climb and the lockdown gets stricter by the day, I would much rather weather this pandemic in Italy than here. I just can’t shake the terror that the United States, my adopted country, is fundamentally unequipped to handle what lies ahead.
Speri then goes on about the wonders of Italy’s health care system: “It is a tragic irony that a public health emergency unlike anything we have seen in generations would come as Americans are constantly told that the idea of health care as a fundamental right is entitled, radical, crazy talk.”
I’d rather get sick so I can take advantage of socialized health care is a hot take.
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It’s been a week and you haven’t found a flight yet?
— The Coulter of CA ? (@2018Winning) March 12, 2020
Don’t let us keep you.
Good, go away
— DefNotCatVader (@VaderDef) March 12, 2020
Leave
— ???offensive?? (@tyronebighams) March 12, 2020
Good riddance
— at_the Black Elf (@flo_rida_man) March 12, 2020
There have been dumb takes. This is all of them
— Aaron W. (@WWeingrad) March 12, 2020
— Ski Bunny (@sternergulch) March 12, 2020
Could you move there permanently? Thanks.
— The Foreign Virus from Wuhan (@GayPatriotTM) March 12, 2020
Have fun! Be sure to surrender your passport so you don’t bring back the virus. By virus I mean you.
— Tony Hrvatska ?⃠?? (@tonybalogna) March 12, 2020
You earned the ratio you're about to get
— Gretchen Lynn (@Bubola) March 12, 2020
Oh yeah
— Jim (@Ifitsthisname) March 12, 2020
— Mark Domel (@MarkDomel) March 12, 2020
— Lou Brown (@ForsythMac) March 12, 2020
Do you have a GoFundMe?
— Not Mary (@dustopian) March 12, 2020
Send me your info I’ll help you leave pic.twitter.com/cxKMTwY9qo
— Jonathan Judd (@JonJudd) March 12, 2020
I'll buy your ticket, one stipulation though. When you get there you must livestream yourself eating at a buffet.
— Roll Tide! (@shnikies78) March 12, 2020
fuori di qui
— Annie La B ??? (@arelab13) March 12, 2020
Staying here is voluntary.
Do as you please.
— Wuhan Luke (@kuhnzoo) March 12, 2020
Maybe a flight to China first and then Italy
— Sgt Audi Murphy (@sgtaudimurphy) March 12, 2020
Weird take.
— C. Brown (@CollinBrown85) March 12, 2020
You're a sad person.
— ???? ??????? ????! (@BradEssex) March 12, 2020
So not does this sound like a terrible idea, but you want to put a strain on a country that's already suffering awfully.
— ines (@inihelene) March 12, 2020
i just cant anymore with these people
— 9mm terminus (@postidentity) March 12, 2020
— Cathy A. Salazar (@LvlyWords) March 12, 2020
Notice how nobody is lining up trying to stop you?
??♂️— Sandpit Nostep (@rev_entertain) March 12, 2020
— Captain Cook's Wife (@cptcookswife) March 12, 2020
I wouldn’t call an entire country in lock down as “handling the situation”. They’re in lock down because they didn’t react fast enough and you want to go to where the virus is hitting the worst at the moment? Yikes. Not the brightest tweet.
— ˗ˏˋ m ˎˊ˗ (@arozzee) March 12, 2020
Just lock yourself in a box and pretend you’re in quarantine in Italy. Problem solved.
— ???RoadLessTraveled ??? (@JonnyKarnes) March 12, 2020
Is every journalist an imbecile?
— Ban Free Zone (@BanFree) March 12, 2020
— Adam Libra-tarian (@LocoRojo37) March 12, 2020
— 100 Proof (@ChampionCapua) March 12, 2020
Please spend a lot of time licking your fingers and hands on the trip. Thanks in advance.
— Louche Libertine (@WitStream1) March 12, 2020
Well, that's really dumb.
— Flurypd (@FluryPD) March 12, 2020
You’re the problem. You’ll never see it but you are. Please do find a place to live that better suits your ideology. You’re harming the country you live in.
— antihero_kate (@antihero_kate) March 12, 2020
This is a blatant lie.
— Beerded Man (@ExniHilo83) March 12, 2020
Then why are you here now?
— Michael Voss ???? (@Michael_A_Voss) March 12, 2020
People are apparently scrambling and paying tens of thousands to get out of Europe and back to the United States; surely she could find a flight there?
Related:
Who wants to tell her? AOC reveals 'one major reason' South Korea is coping well with COVID19, and it's '100% crap' https://t.co/NMs233bWIn
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 12, 2020
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