"Initially it seemed surreal that this virus had actually chosen to spread right in Codogno," says Roberto Cighetti, one of the 16,000 quarantined residents of the town in Lombardy, northern Italy, where the outbreak of COVID-19 started.

Before it became the epicenter of coronavirus in Italy, Codogno was a place not many people outside Lombardy had heard of.

When Cighetti, born and raised in Codogno, read that the first case of coronavirus in Lombardy had been found right there, he couldn't believe something that big could happen in his home town.

He was making coffee, getting ready to go to work in nearby Casalpusterlengo – another city now under lockdown – where he works as a science and anatomy teacher in a high school, when he saw the news on his phone.

Cighetti went to school as usual, unaware the virus would spread so fast.

"As the hours went by, the students were more and more worried because they heard the news coming in. It was hard to get them to relax and share a positive and reassuring message – you could see from their faces they were a bit apprehensive," says Cighetti.

"Then in the afternoon, they suspended any school activities. And since then, we've all been home," he adds.

Initially the citizens of Codogno were advised not to leave the town, then the mayor followed up with a ban a day later. Cighetti should have gone on a school trip to Naples for the carnival celebrations, but he decided to stay at home.

"On Friday evening I decided to respect the advice of the mayor and I did well – those who left town on Friday or Saturday were immediately stopped and put under forced quarantine, isolated at home, and they were also accused of spreading the virus," he says.

Adding: "Since Sunday evening we have roadblocks with police checkpoints, hundreds of Carabinieri came from all over Italy and they're now presiding not only the main streets but also the secondary ones, surrounding the whole red zone."

The people who want to leave the town can ask for permission on the town hall's website. But the citizens of Codogno seem to have come to terms with the quarantine they've been forced to endure.

"On Saturday and Sunday the supermarkets were closed in town, people were getting a bit worried, because the weekend is also the time people normally go for grocery shopping. On Monday, the supermarkets were opened again – we've got seven in total – often they work in turns, but we don't miss anything," says Cighetti.

"My dad told me he's seen some people loading up their shopping cart in the weekend, afraid of not being able to find provisions in the next days. But already on Monday, people noticed that all the food was being brought back in stock the moment it was sold out and that the supermarkets were going to stay open through the week, so we got back to a normal, rational mind set and people buy just what they need, without stocking up like they're getting ready to fill a fallout shelter."

All in all, life goes on in the quarantined city of Codogno. While some people had to self-isolate because they were found to have the virus, the majority of the citizens can go out as they please, even though the recommendation is to avoid contact as much as possible.

"Some people go out and take a walk, because they get bored – understandably so," says Cighetti. "People read, they cook, they watch TV shows, they take the dog for a walk or go for a bike ride – because we are in the countryside."

"Last week, before the rain came in, there were a lot of people gathered in the city center, trying to keep the recommended distance between each other, some wearing face masks and some not. Some sat at the tables of the closed bars and cafes with a thermos of coffee or a bottle of wine, so even if the bar was closed they were still having a DYI Aperitivo," says Cighetti.

Cighetti understands and appreciates people's will to continue living a normal life under these extreme circumstances, but he thinks there's a social responsibility to comply to the government's recommendation and try to contain the virus as much as possible.

"We can let our guard down now – otherwise our quarantine is going to be extended," he says.

Cighetti feels strongly about the communication surrounding the outbreak. He's also a science communicator and as one, he deeply believes in sharing a rational and well-informed perspective on the epidemic to counteract unjustified panic.

"There have been episodes of collective hysteria and people raiding supermarkets in other cities in Italy, but not in Codogno. When you're inside it [the quarantine], you live it differently."

Since the quarantine kicked in, Cighetti has devoted his time to fighting fake news on the outbreak on social media and online and sharing his story as a scientist and a quarantined resident of a town in Italy's red zone.

"There are people writing me from everywhere in the world, sharing their solidarity and support, but they also thank me for being rational about the outbreak and reassuring them, in opposition to the contradictory and negative messages they get from the media."

Cighetti believes in the power of sharing positive stories, and keeping moral high. "I heard the story of two young men with the passion for baseball who decided to play across the roadblock between the red zone and the yellow zone when they discovered they couldn't reach each other otherwise," Cighetti says.

"A friend knowing that I love pizza told me that there's a pizza restaurant in a yellow zone that delivers pizza right up to where the red zone begins – Breaking Bad-style. The police have approved, so wearing face masks and gloves, they pass on the pizza between the two zones."

Cighetti's positive outlook is only shadowed by concerns over the future consequences on Italy's economy: "Many are worried, the government has taken some measures and we hope they'll work, we can only accept it and wait. The repercussions will be many, but it will be worthy if economically penalizing this many people will avoid the collapsing of the sanitary system in Italy."

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