{"id":89454,"date":"2020-04-09T05:03:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T11:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-durango-reverend-shares-experience-from-inside-italy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:55:23","slug":"former-durango-reverend-shares-experience-from-inside-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/former-durango-reverend-shares-experience-from-inside-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Durango reverend shares experience from inside Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Rev. Andrew Cooley, former rector at St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church in Durango, with a nurse in an Italian hospital. Cooley went to the hospital April 2 with pneumonia, fever and other COVID-like symptoms. He tested negative for the illness.<\/span>Courtesy of Andrew Cooley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Rev. Andrew Cooley, former rector at St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church in Durango, has been in Italy for one of the world\u2019s deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.<\/p>\n

Watching the United States\u2019 response to the pandemic has been like watching a car head toward a 50-car pileup and desperately trying to get it to slow down, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was frustrating here to see our American friends not taking this as seriously as we wish we had,\u201d said Cooley, speaking via WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

As Durango prepares to face its own peak in upcoming weeks, Cooley\u2019s experience in Italy might help nervous residents seeking guidance.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has the largest coronavirus outbreak in the world with more than 400,000 cases and 14,000 deaths. Italy has had one of the most deadly. American public officials have seen Italy\u2019s slowing outbreak as a \u201cglimmer of hope.\u201d But social distancing in the U.S. is not as stringent as in Italy, and Americans remain divided over whether restrictions should be more or less strict.<\/p>\n

One message from Cooley to Durango: follow social distancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe restrictions are hard,\u201d Cooley said. \u201cThey impact some people harder than others, but they are necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Italy and the U.S. have different population sizes, densities and cultural practices, public officials have said the American outbreak could follow the Italian model because of slow government response.<\/p>\n

The rates of new cases and daily deaths in Italy have slowed since the end of March, mostly attributed to the strict restriction implemented by the government. The slow down offers hope to many around the world and in the U.S. as proof that social distancing can work.<\/p>\n

But American cases are climbing, and in many areas, the restrictions are not as stringent as the measures taken by the Italian government.<\/p>\n

\u2018Alarmist\u2019 decisions<\/div>\n

At first, Italians were divided whether the county\u2019s restrictions were \u201calarmist\u201d or necessary, Cooley said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Rev. Andrew Cooley, who spent 16 years as rector at St. Mark\u2019s Episcopal Church in Durango, urged Americans to take social distancing seriously \u2013 and to connect with one another. He is a rector at an Episcopal church in Florence, Italy.<\/span>Courtesy of Andrew Cooley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At 3,100 cases, schools closed and small towns went into quarantine, which some saw as an overreaction. They were concerned about tourism revenue or did not want to give up their social habits.<\/p>\n

When cases reached 7,400 on March 8, the government imposed severe restrictions in the middle of the night. Officials tried to lock down northern provinces. The next day, the government issued a nationwide lockdown. There were 9,200 cases.<\/p>\n

To leave the house, residents must bring a form saying where they\u2019re going and why. Only approved reasons count, Cooley said. People cannot get out to walk. Only 10 people can enter a grocery store at a time and customers can expect to be \u201cdisciplined\u201d if they aren\u2019t following social-distancing restrictions.<\/p>\n

Since then, no one has been referring to the restrictions as an \u201coverreaction,\u201d Cooley said.<\/p>\n

It was Cooley\u2019s sense that most Italians agreed the country\u2019s response was slow and said they needed the social distancing restrictions.<\/p>\n

Like in the United States, health care professionals and equipment have been in short supply.<\/p>\n

More than 17,000 people have died in Italy. As of Saturday, 46 doctors died, four in one day. More than 50 priests have died, including one who gave up his respirator for a younger patient, Cooley said.<\/p>\n

But they all die alone.<\/p>\n

Family members or religious clergy cannot get protective gear to be with dying patients. The hospital staff is too thin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will happen in the United States,\u201d Cooley said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve been here before\u2019<\/div>\n

Dawn Spaeder, executive director of the Durango Choral Society, and more than 40 singers had planned for over a year to join Cooley in Florence. The group\u2019s plans quickly changed when their hosts said they would not be allowed to visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was devastating to have to tell everyone that the tour was canceled,\u201d Spaeder said.<\/p>\n

She is one of many people who knew Cooley \u2013 who she described as \u201cfull of grace\u201d \u2013 from his time at St. Mark\u2019s. He baptized her children and officiated her marriage, as he had for many others. Seeing him would be like a family trip for the group, she said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Rev. Andrew Cooley has been living in Florence, Italy, since the beginning of 2019. There, he has experienced one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the world and the country\u2019s strict restrictions.<\/span>Courtesy of Andrew Cooley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Spaeder kept in touch with Cooley every day. She saw his posts as restrictions became more stringent and checked in with him after he went to the hospital with COVID-like symptoms. (He was negative for the illness.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can\u2019t look at Italy as an example, and go \u2018whoa,\u2019 then we\u2019re losing the lesson of the countries that are ahead of us on this,\u201d Spaeder said.<\/p>\n

She is proud the choral group is one of the first in Durango to cancel events \u2013 even though it meant losing finances for the whole season.<\/p>\n

But it seemed like people did not take it seriously until it affected someone they knew, she said. She heard reports of people still hiking in groups, playing group sports or prioritizing their civil liberties over public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t about rights. This is about humanity,\u201d she said. \u201cNone of us are happy about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

A world away, Cooley saw a way past his frustration. His calling as a rector was to help each person find meaning during hard times \u2013 including himself.<\/p>\n

He found meaning in the fact that \u201cwe\u2019ve been here before,\u201d he said. \u201cThat God\u2019s love is bigger than the virus. That this is a time to find new ways to reach out to connect to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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