Keep your coffee-ing away from me! Italian barista serves espresso on a SHOVEL days before the country was put on lockdown over coronavirus
- The Italian barista was filmed joking about the virus days before the quarantine
- He jokingly serves coffee to a customer on a shovel ‘to protect himself’
- Italy has now been classified as the centre of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak
- Days after the video was uploaded, the entire country was locked down and all shops except supermarkets and pharmacies closed
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Italy may be at the centre of one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks – but it hasn’t stopped some people from finding a moment of humour amid the gloom.
This video captures a barista in Florence serving coffee to a customer on a shovel, while joking that it will protect against the virus.
The clip was taken in the Tuscan city last week, just days before the entire country was put on lockdown and all shops except for supermarkets and pharmacies shuttered to try and control the spread of the disease.
‘Anti-virus measures,’ the barista can be heard saying in Italian while handing the cup of espresso to the waiting customer.
‘Anti-virus measures,’ he responds, laughing. ‘Thank you.’
Pictured: The barista jokingly serving an espresso with a shovel as an ‘anti-virus measure’ in the Tuscan city of Florence last week
Italy officially has the worst coronavirus outbreak outside of China, with 15,000 cases reported and more than 1,000 deaths.
Hospitals in the badly-hit north have reported leaving patients in corridors to die as intensive care units were overwhelmed with cases.
The country reported its first cases of coronavirus late in January in two tourists from China.
It appeared authorities had the spread largely under control until February 21, when a cluster was discovered in Lombardy with no record of travel outside the country.
Authorities have not yet discovered how that cluster originated.
Pictured: The man serving an espresso with a shovel in Florence last week. Italy officially has the worst coronavirus outbreak outside of China, with 15,000 cases reported and more than 1,000 deaths
Since then, the virus has swept across the country. Italy now has the highest rate of infection per-person anywhere in the world, including China.
China has since dispatched teams of doctors who helped battle the coronavirus outbreak there to Italy to help, along with tonnes of medical supplies including badly-needed ventilators.
Following Italy’s example, dozens of other European countries have also begun shutting down public spaces in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in a strategy known as ‘flattening the curve’.
Children were staying at home across Europe today as France, Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Belgium became the latest countries to close schools over coronavirus fears.
France has called for a ‘massive applying of the brakes’ with schools and universities closed for at least two weeks while Disneyland Paris is shutting its doors on Sunday.
The Piazza del Duomo in Florence, pictured on Tuesday, was unusually quiet after the Italian government imposed a curfew and an unprecedented lockdown to help battle coronavirus
Portugal is also closing schools, limiting visits to retirement homes and shutting down nightclubs with large public events already cancelled.
Four towns have been shut down in Spain where police were today stopping cars on a road near Barcelona.
In Italy, which is already in lockdown, Catholic churches in Rome have now been shut as the Vatican falls in line with the rest of the country.
Football fixtures across Europe have been taking place behind closed doors amid calls for the Euro 2020 tournament to be postponed.
An Italian Carabinieri police officer walks past the San Luigi dei Francesi church in Rome where churches have now been completely shut down
Meanwhile, some European passengers were boarding the last flights to America this morning before Donald Trump’s unexpected travel ban comes into force tonight.
The drastic measures leave Britain increasingly out of step with the rest of Europe after Boris Johnson yesterday declined to impose a ban on schools or public events.
Europe now has a total of 28,550 cases, more than half of them in Italy, and 1,198 deaths.