Ada Zanusso at age 104 became the oldest person to survive the novel coronavirus. A survivor of the Spanish Flu when she was only 2, her story gives hope for many in these hard times.
It was March 17th when Zanusso first felt ill at her nursing home. It was 8 days after the Italian government announced a lockdown over the entire country.
After intense fever and vomiting, she was tested positive for Covid-19. According to her son, there were other patients at the nursing home where his mother was staying including a few fatalities.
However, Zanusso showed her incredible tenacity as her body managed to fend off the virus. According to her doctor, Zanusso is walking around the hospital and can sit upright on her bed. Moreover, she is just as energetic and positive without losing any of her intelligence.
Her recovery is one more of the more hopeful news that have been coming from the Italian peninsula. Government officials have announced potential easing of quarantining as death tolls began to flatten.
Yesterday the Italian daily death toll was at 525, the least deaths since March 19th. Although it is too early to confirm a downward turn, it has given hope to the people of a country that has been struck particularly hard by the global pandemic.
Italy’s national health director stated that if this daily trend continues, he may consider entering the second phase. This refers to a more relaxed stage of lockdown that has already lasted for a month.
With the official death toll at 15,887, the next steps for Italy still remain to be seen. However, Italy’s bold decision to be the first to issue a national lockdown among the European democracies have seemed to put the situation under control.
The state of the Italian economy is also extremely unstable. Some Italian experts believe that their GDP could decrease by nearly 6% should the lockdown continue until May. In 2017, the Italian GDP had grown by 1.5%.
But as of yet, saving lives is the only objective on the mind of government officials. All other functions have been sidelined in a global scurry to secure everything from face masks to testing kits.
Regardless, the Italian population have been keeping a fighting sprit. Many are hanging their flags and a tradition of clapping for the healthcare workers every night at 8pm have been continuing.
Does the story of Zanusso bring hope to you as well? We hope you are doing well during these times. Share with us how you are doing, and be sure to follow us on Facebook for more heartwarming stories like this one.
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