By Nora Garcia

Around 20% of the global population is now in quarantine due to the Coronavirus spread. Europe is one of the principal spots of the virus as the number of positive cases and deaths is rising.

• 155 Countries with positive cases.
• China has more than 3,000 deaths and around 74% of the global coronavirus cases.
• Italy has around 69,000 confirmed cases and 5,400 deaths.
• Spain almost 48,000 cases and the number of deaths is higher than China.
• In the UK 8,077 positive cases are confirmed since the 24th of March 2020.

After the surge of positive cases, specially in Europe, many governments decided to lockdown the countries in order to stop the spread of the virus.

The countries that they’re currently in lockdown are:

• India
• United Kingdom
• Australia
• Italy
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Spain
• Germany
• Portugal
• Czech Republic
• France
• Belgium
• Norway
• China
• Slovenia
• Indonesia
• El Salvador
• New Zealand
• Poland

Last Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the lockdown in the UK, with some exceptions that have been published in gov.uk.

In countries such as Italy and Spain, the population has already been in lockdown for at least two weeks. Fines of up to €600,000 from the government are being distributed if restrictions aren’t followed. A large number of families are now in lockdown together and struggling to go through it.

The factors that are making the lockdown harder are the restrictions of going to the streets unless necessary, the lack of personal space in shared properties and possible mental health deterioration.

Riccardo Principe, part-time photographer from Rome, explains how hard it is to stay indoors. He brought a clear message about the solution to fight this virus: ”My advice obviously is to stay at home

My advice obviously is to stay at home, even if someone could think: ”Maybe I can go out to see my friends, just once. It doesn’t matter, is not that important”. No, it is important. You must be at home. Is the only thing that we can do, to help us to fight this virus.

Riccardo Principe

Riccardo has also created an Instagram account where he shares his perception of the quarantine. With his pictures he wants to express to the world what the quarantine from his home is like and what it involves.

Giulia Profiti, Airport Special Assistant in Rome, is also in quarantine since almost three weeks ago and has expressed that she’s starting to struggle with the confinement: ”At the beginning I used to relax

At the beginning I used to relax. But now, I get tired. It is very hard… all day, together, you don’t have your space.

Giulia Profiti

In Spain, with almost 3,500 deaths the quarantine has been prolonged till the 11th of April as the situation is getting worst.

Clara Fuente, a Spanish student from Santander, has experienced the symptoms, members of her family too. She gave some advice for those who are not taking the quarantine seriously: Please, don’t go out, stay at home

Please, don’t go out, stay at home. Don’t go to see your friends, don’t go to see your family members. It is easy, is really easy to pass them the virus.

Clara Fuente

Laura Portaencasa Crespo, is a psychologist and coach in Spain. As a psychologist, she shared the problems that people could be experiencing during this period: ”This confinement can make us feel confusion

This confinement can make us feel confusion, irritability, frustration, anger, and low state of mind. We can feel that we are exhausted.

Laura Portaencasa Crespo

If you’re in the UK and you’re unsure about how to follow the government restrictions visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

If you’re student in the UWS and you’ll like to know more about the updates in the University visit https://www.uws.ac.uk/about-uws/coronavirus-covid-19-information/