COVID-19: recollections of those who were involved on the front line five years after the first case in Ticino

To mark the fifth anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 in Ticino, Il Quotidiano (RSI) dedicated a feature to the topic, involving several professors from Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) who shared their experiences and memories.

"During the first wave of COVID-19, we had no antiviral or other drugs available to treat our patients effectively," recalled Prof. Enos Bernasconi, Full Professor at USI Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. "Until then, we were convinced that we could handle the majority of infectious diseases, but with COVID-19, we realised that an infection with pandemic evolution can still give us a hard time and cause serious harm to patients." Thinking back to the pandemic, Professor Bernasconi recalls the sense of community that united the experts: "I used to attend weekly meetings with the emergency crisis team, where we collaborated with professionals from various fields. We worked effectively together because we all shared the common goal of achieving quick results, which fostered a strong sense of unity among us."

Prof. Mario Jametti, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Director of the Institute of Economic Research (IRE), for his part, recalled the work of those who allowed the economy to continue to function: "One of the things that stayed with me from the pandemic is the respect for the supermarket cashiers, who risked their safety to ensure that the shops were open." His colleague's words were echoed by Fabrizio Mazzona, a Professor at the Faculty of Economics, who shared a personal recollection: "The memory that has sadly stayed with me is the dreadful situation in Bergamo and the procession of trucks carrying away the deceased." Similar is the memory shared by Prof. Davide Robbiani, Full Professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB): "On 30 June 2020, I was at New York airport with my family on my way back to Switzerland. Only two flights were scheduled that evening, and the airport was almost deserted: it was an almost apocalyptic scenario."

Amidst the many dark moments of the pandemic period, however, there was also room for initiatives that brought moments of hope and fun, as recalled by Prof. Emiliano Albanese, Professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences: "The clown-doctors of "Laughing for Living" offered to involve the children who generously donated some of their blood for the "Corona Immunitas" study for the serological monitoring of the spread of the virus. This playful occasion created a pleasant moment, which we could never have imagined in that situation."