"Standing ground"

By Akeel Lovell
One brave Barbadian Dentist currently resides in Italy which is locked down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and she is in no rush to come back home.

Marsha Straker, 34 years, has been living in capital, Rome, for the past 13 years, while studying and practicing her dental profession.

She says since the shutdown which was imposed on march 9, 2020, things have been pretty lull since.

“Yes, there isn't quite a lot of fear and panic as most people would expect especially individuals who might be seeing photos online, the issue is the actual containment of individuals from going outside and basically assembling in places with a lot of people,” she said.

She added “Photos people may see at the supermarket with long lines and those long lines are not because they're trying to ration food it is because they're trying to maintain that 1-meter distance between clients which the government has imposed, of course the public services are running normally but in most cases the government has okay, every person to stay in their house and to leave only for essential services.

In Italy there has been over 600 recorded deaths and 10,000 people infected.

As a medical professional panic or fear is not an option for Marsha, she believes following the guidelines by the medical authorities is the better option.

“I really try to maintain my 1-meter distance obviously as a dentist, it was very difficult because of dental services require you to be in close contact with those individuals obviously hand shaking and the usual Italian greeting of kissing on the cheek. That hasn't been done for a very long time. But it's just taking that personal extra precaution to not actually transmit diseases to maybe an immune-depressed individual or to an elderly individual who may be more susceptible,” she pointed out.

She said the real issue in that the country was people making light of how dire the situation was at the time.

Italians masking up amid the lockdown

“Well, the view has always been that people have obviously undervalued the situation that most people unfortunately just thought that it was a disease for the elderly to stop the contamination on the transmission, therefore we have been told to stay at home most people are not in a state of panic or fear, of course, extra precautions like washing their hands and most people if you go inside are going to be using masks but that would really be a major sentiment. There is a climate of fear and panic,” she disclosed.

Marsha has been pretty comfortable during the lockdown,  noting that all of her essentials are at her fingertips.

“The essential services are there, so basically, there is no problem with electricity and water or Internet so you're able to relax at home, obviously the most important thing is to listen to the guidelines emanated from the local health authorities so it's just to keep up to date with what is being said and to follow those guidelines to a T”

Most of Marsha’s family lives in Barbados, and many of her relatives have been concerned about her wellbeing, especially her mother.

“They're more cautious than worried I would say because of course the Italian authorities have always kept all of the citizens up to speed with the news and so I've been able to keep them abreast on what has been going on in Italy, of course my mother was more concerned about the actual contact I was having with patients and that probability but other than that my family has been extremely supportive and they just like to make sure that I'm also keeping abreast of the news and following the guidelines of the local health authority.

The young dentist believes its her duty to remain in Rome until its her time to come back home and she’s determined to do so.

“I do not think that as a sense of civic responsibility that to leave Italy which is currently in a court under quarantine that would be a very selfish outlet in my opinion to come back when this is all over of course I want to enjoy my vacation in Barbados, by this time I express solidarity with the Italian community in Barbados whose loved ones are here. I do not have any plans in the immediate future or before April 3rd when the shutdown should be lifted to come back to Barbados,” she said.