Good News: Despite Predictions, Italy’s ‘Little China’ Avoids Coronavirus Outbreak

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Italian city Prato, near Florence, has the largest concentration of Chinese residents in Europe and was reportedly predicted to become the country’s coronavirus epicenter. Instead, according to Politico, Italy’s ‘Little China’ avoided the outbreak entirely.
Because roughly 2,000 of Prato’s residents returned to China for the Chinese New Year in February, several believed the city would be vulnerable to the epidemic.
“The idea of being in a city of so many Chinese with strong links to the home country made some people fearful,” said local Democratic politician Lorenzo Rocchi. “That turned out to be completely wrong — in the end the virus arrived here from Lombardy.”
Prato’s Chinese population prepared for the outbreak weeks before Italy’s first registered coronavirus case by self-isolating and closing businesses, alerting the native Italian residents to follow suit.
“The Chinese community set a good example, creating a virtuous circle,” said Prato’s mayor Matteo Biffoni. “The seriousness of the virus was understood in Prato, perhaps before anywhere else in Italy, and thanks to their example, we all got into line.”
Not a single member of the Chinese community in Prato has tested positive for Covid-19, and the entire city has only seen 479 cases in total, a small number compared to the rest of the country and the Tuscany region.
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