A waiter flying back to London from his home city of Turin today told how the UK is underestimating coronavirus and said: ‘I feel safer in Italy than here.’
Andrea Luca, 54, said Britain should adopt the same tough measures as his homeland to combat the killer Covid-19 bug before it is too late.
Mr Luca has spent the last 12-days visiting his elderly mother and family in Turin in northern Italy, the region worst affected by the virus outside of China.
He described how businesses have shut down, supermarkets are limiting the number of shoppers and people can only travel if they have good reason.
He says this draconian approach is needed by the UK, which is on the same trajectory as Italy, to avoid the same number of infections and deaths.
Mr Luca, who lives in central London, flew back into Stansted Airport this morning from Turin shielding his face with a scarf pulled up over his mouth and nose.
He will now self-isolate for 14 days before returning to work.
Waiter Andrea Luca flying back to London from his home city of Turin today told how the UK is underestimating coronavirus and said: ‘I feel safer in Italy than here’
The 54-year-old said Britain should adopt the same tough measures as his homeland to combat the killer Covid-19 bug before it is too late
Mr Luca has spent 12-days in Turin in northern Italy, the region worst affected by the virus outside of China. He described how businesses have shut down, supermarkets are limiting the number of shoppers and people can only travel if they have good reason
Mr Luca said: ‘The UK isn’t taking this virus seriously enough. Believe me, I know how bad it can get. ‘I feel safer in Italy than I do here. It may seem strange saying that given the number of fatalities and people who have tested positive over there’
He was one of many travellers who accused the British authorities of being too relaxed in their attitude towards coronavirus.
Several told how they had had their temperatures checked before leaving Italy but had faced no checks coming to the UK.
Mr Luca said: ‘The UK isn’t taking this virus seriously enough. Believe me, I know how bad it can get.
‘I feel safer in Italy than I do here. It may seem strange saying that given the number of fatalities and people who have tested positive over there.
‘But the Italian government has put strict procedures into place and I think it’s starting to work, albeit slowly.’
Mr Luca said no new cases were declared in the original red zone of Lombardy yesterday and that the Italian Prime Minister was right to order businesses to close.
‘I was in Turin for 12-days and mainly I stayed at home with my mother. We were quarantined.
‘The supermarkets operate like a nightclub in Britain. Only certain numbers of people are allowed in at any one time.
‘People can’t walk around the streets unless they have a good reason to. People wear face masks and keep their distance.
He was one of many travellers who accused the British authorities of being too relaxed in their attitude towards coronavirus. Mr Salerno, 43, (left) was travelling with colleagues Marco Bel-Carratore, 56 (centre) and Rinaldo Falzone, 54, (right) who all wore surgical face masks
They have been working in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year and had cut short their trip by two weeks to fly home to Genoa. Their only option was to fly from Riyadh to Heathrow early this morning and then catch a bus around the M25 and up to Essex to Stansted
Mr Salerno told MailOnline: ‘I was shocked because I thought it would be the same in Saudi Arabia where there are strict health procedures in place. ‘When we arrived at Heathrow and then Stansted I couldn’t believe how none of the staff were wearing any gloves or face masks’
‘In London people have been crowding into shops panic buying, people are still on public transport, offices and schools are still open.
‘Everything has still gone on as usual. There’s been no restrictions and now the virus is spreading here.
‘You have seen what’s happened in Italy and what is now happening in France and Spain. That should be a warning.’
Fellow Italian Alessandro Salerno agreed and said he was surprised how little precautions seemed to be in place at Stansted.
Mr Salerno, 43, was travelling with colleagues Marco Bel-Carratore, 56 and Rinaldo Falzone, 54, who all wore surgical face masks.
They have been working in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year and had cut short their trip by two weeks to fly home to Genoa.
Their only option was to fly from Riyadh to Heathrow early this morning and then catch a bus around the M25 and up to Essex to Stansted.
Mr Salerno told MailOnline: ‘I was shocked because I thought it would be the same in Saudi Arabia where there are strict health procedures in place.
‘When we arrived at Heathrow and then Stansted I couldn’t believe how none of the staff were wearing any gloves or face masks.
Flights returning from Italy to the UK have been eerily quiet. Simon Johnson and his girlfriend had flown to Rome for a birthday treat when they found out on Monday that all flights were due to be cancelled
He told Mail Online: ‘Our flight was the last out of Italy yesterday which was a bit nervy in case it didn’t go ahead. ‘I think it’s much worse seeing it in person that what’s on tv. We are self isolating now for two weeks, currently have no symptoms and we hope it stays that way’
Ghuman Chaudhry from East London returned home from a two week holiday in Salerno in the south of Italy. He arrived back at Stansted from Brindisi Airport where there were stringent checks
Mr Chaudhry is planning on self-isolating for two weeks. He has told his company that’s he’s going to stay home for a fortnight. He works in event security
‘It’s as though in Britain people are not as worried by this virus as the rest of the world.
‘I’ve been in Saudi Arabia for two months for a technical engineering firm and we’ve seen what’s been happening in Italy.
‘All of Italy is closed down practically. There are hardly any flights via France or Germany so we had to come to Britain in order to get home before it’s too late.
‘We live in the north of Italy where it’s been really bad and want to get home to our families and make sure they’re ok.’
Flights returning from Italy to the UK have been eerily quiet.
Simon Johnson of Aylesbury, Bucks, flew back to Stansted from Rome yesterday after spending a long weekend in the Italian capital.
He’d bought the tickets for a Christmas present for him and his girlfriend.
Mr Johnson said the whole of Italy went on lockdown on his birthday on Monday and he feared they may not get home.
‘The airport was like a ghost town barely a soul around,’ he said. ‘We flew out to Italy on Sunday because I’d bought us tickets to Rome as a Christmas present.
‘We managed to get back home to the UK yesterday on what was the last flight out of Italy. It was a bit nerve wracking because I feared it may not go ahead.
Allessio Carrino, 30, flew into Stansted from Napoli Airport this afternoon. He said: ‘Before I could board the plane in Italy, I had to have my temperature taken. If it’s too high and you have a fever, you cannot travel. There’s been nothing like that here’
He added: ‘I hope the UK doesn’t see the same problems Italy has but you may have to take a stricter approach’
‘We are pretty happy to have made it home what with all the chaos of cancelled flights.
‘I think it’s much worse when you see what’s going on there in person rather than on TV, seeing a whole country shutting down.
‘We are self isolating now for two weeks, currently have no symptoms and we hope it stays that way.’
Ghuman Chaudhry from East London returned home from a two week holiday in Salerno in the south of Italy.
He arrived back at Stansted from Brindisi Airport where there were stringent checks.
He said: ‘Before we boarded the plane in Italy every passenger had their temperature checked to make sure we were healthy.
‘But when we landed back in Britain, there were no checks at all. We left the plane as normal, which I found quite surprising given all that is going on in the world.’
Mr Chaudhry is planning on self-isolating for two weeks. He has told his company that’s he’s going to stay home for a fortnight. He works in event security.