The Covid-19 outbreak sparked discrimination in Italy, as it experienced the "Black Death" epidemic.

Italy is witnessing the largest outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe with more than 200 cases and 7 deaths. 11 blockaded towns, schools closed, football matches canceled, shops empty, the government urged residents not to leave their homes, while shops were emptied as demand for supplies increased. high.

The alarming news about nCoV has sparked panic and discrimination in this European country. Italians frantically searched for information on "Patient No. 0", the first person to bring the virus into the country, while the country's media described it as a "manhunt".

Many quickly referred to a 41-year-old man in Lodi province, Lombardia as "Patient No. 0", after he was hospitalized with symptoms similar to pneumonia and had once been to China. His family only "sighed" when all his tests were negative for nCoV.

While Italy has yet to find "Patient No. 0", Chinese and Asian-American communities in this country have been subjected to attacks, boycotts, threats or even attacks. Matteo Salvini, the former head of the country's right-wing party, called for a suspension of all travel between Italy and China. In a later statement, he also called for the closure of ports with immigrants from African countries.

Prejudice against the Chinese community between the Covid-19 epidemic is a widespread problem in many parts of the world. In the US, residents avoid going to restaurants in Chinatown in big cities. But especially in Italy, such types of discrimination always exist.

The reaction of the Italians to the epidemic reminded people of the "Black Death" pandemic that had raged in Europe hundreds of years ago, even in the very Italian blockaded towns.

Although there is no credible basis, the accusations against those "untore" are still powerful: The first object targeted in the mid-14th century was the Jewish community. Europeans accuse the Jews of wanting to kill all Christians by spreading the disease. Even when the Pope declared that Jews were not the object of spreading the disease, the crowd did not stop.

Less than two centuries later, the plague spread to Milan. Many people spread rumors that people carrying oil bottles containing plague germs travel everywhere.

"Dagli! All'untore!", The call for "untore" assault, is so popular in Italy that it is still considered a general way for the people of this country to only attack someone for a reason. rumors.

The Italians were no stranger to that period, because it was included in the famous novel by Alessandro Manzoni in 1828 "I Promessi Sposi" (The Engagement) and included in the country's textbooks. In that novel, Manzoni wrote about the collective agitation that occurred during the time of the plague outbreak.

It seems that Italians who have learned about this historical period are repeating that nightmare. Like the 14th-century Jews and the unthinkable "untore" in the 17th century, Asians in Italy are becoming targets for discrimination and assault in the 21st century.

"When there is no longer the reason and the intolerance, suspicion, and aversion of tolerance in the mind will make people think that the most unfortunate people are sinners, based only on the most vague and indiscriminate allegations. ", Manzoni once wrote in his work.