Don Your Way column: When in Rome, see how the Italians are coping with Covid

I’m no different to many of you reading this.

Like every single one of us, all the plans, hopes and dreams I had at the start of 2020 have pretty much gone out the window.

I’ve gone through day after day, month after month in my diary, crossing out planned nights out, theatre shows, concerts, football matches and holiday breaks.

Fortunately, despite all the travel chaos and disruption caused by Covid, I managed to grab a week in Italy with my Italian partner at the back end of last month.

You may recall that at the start of the pandemic, Italy was the worst hit country in Europe. So I thought I’d see how our Italian friends are coping with coronavirus while on my break.

And in many respects, they seem to be doing a much better job.

Social distancing, even in some of the tourist hotspots of Rome was easy.

The normally bustling Colosseum and Trevi Fountain were deserted.

Police were watching on to make sure visitors were following the rules. And people were more than happy to wear masks, not just in shops and indoor spaces, but outdoors as well.

In fairness, most of our break was spent on deserted Italian hillsides, gazing over the beautiful and picturesque Umbrian countryside, so staying clear of the hordes was easy.

We had our temperatures checked in restaurants, at the airport and were urged to sanitise everywhere we went.

During a quick trim at an Italian barber, I even had my temperature taken – although the disturbingly low temperature which suggested I might be suffering from hypothermia suggested the device could have been under the air conditioning unit a little bit too long.

It’s telling that while still on the rise, cases in Italy seem to be being kept in check and Italy is still very much on the UK’s safe travel list.

In such a beautiful country, it was heart warming to see citizens rallying around and ensuring everyone was doing their bit to help stop the spread of this terrible virus.