Inter Defender Ashley Young Issues COVID-19 Warning From Italy

After only having joined Inter from Manchester United in January, Ashley Young has endured somewhat of an unusual transition to life in Italy.

The 34-year-old Englishman made five appearances in Serie A since his arrival, scoring once and also providing one assist. The fifth of those was a match played behind closed doors versus Juventus on March 8th, a date that seems longer ago than it actually is.

This encounter—which Juve won 2-0—was billed as a potential title decider, but shortly afterwards the Italian government placed the entire country on lockdown. Inter themselves went into a two-week isolation period following the news that Bianconeri defender Daniele Rugani had tested positive for COVID-19, issued only days after their game in Turin was completed.

Milan is at the centre of virus cases, with the numbers of deaths having reached 3,456 by March 22 in the region of Lombardy. Young has therefore witnessed first hand the seriousness of the outbreak, and has used his 2.5 million Twitter following to urge those in the UK and beyond to take matters more seriously.

“Hi everyone, just wanted to share my thoughts given I’m currently living in Italy, the epicentre of the virus,” wrote the former Manchester United man. “Realistically a supermarket is now your main risk at spreading this virus and even catching it. Speaking with family and friends at home it sounds like going to get food is just crazy. Remember lockdown means lockdown!

“In Italy going to the supermarket is surprisingly calm… no fights over food, no stripped shelves and most certainly no abusing staff members for limiting food or any reason at all! And in almost every case it’s usually just one person shopping for a household!

“Please read the following and share this if you haven’t already, it really is time to do your bit to help tackle this awful global crisis we are in!

“Queuing to go into supermarket is standard, but not because it’s for stockpiling or greed. Supermarkets have limited the number of people entering at any time so it’s never over-crowded! So wait and be patient to go in if your supermarket is doing this.

“If you have to get in the lift only get in with 1 more person, 2 people per lift at one time. And stand on opposite sides of the lift and face the wall – don’t breathe outwards towards that stranger.

” Always use gloves from moment you get out of your car! You don’t want to touch trolleys that other hands have been on. Keep the gloves on until you are getting back in the car.

“Use a face mask or scarf to keep you nose and mouth covered. Always keep your distance at the till. Keep the trolley behind you when you unpack at the till as it stops people from being able to to get too close.

“Don’t unpack your shopping right on top of somebody else’s, make a gap between theirs and yours so none of your shopping touches theirs. Here we can’t put our groceries on the belt until the person in front has finished paying.

“This may sound harsh but treat everybody that’s not in your household as if they have the virus, you just don’t know!!!

“Most importantly, just stay safe! This is what we are doing here, it’s not an overreaction, it’s staying safe. And just remember others should be looking at you in this way as well. It’s not horrible, it’s a way of keeping your distance to ultimately help save lives.”

Young’s comments undoubtedly come as a result of news reports in the UK which depict panic buying at supermarkets, overcrowding and many ignoring the guidelines on social distancing issued by the government. These actions sparked further measures from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who enforced strict rules on Monday evening and urged the public to stay at home wherever possible.