Spies, viruses and vaporetti: how the pandemic increases distances in the Venice lagoon

Abstract

Two epochal images of St Mark's Square in Venice have recently been impressed upon the collective memory of many people The first was that of a space saturated not by the oft-mistreated tourists, but by the exceptionally high tide of Nov 12, 2019 and those that followed with unusual frequency in the days after The second is that of an empty square due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on movement that were imposed by the Italian government from the beginning of Mar 2020 The first image is linked to long-term ecological dynamics and, despite all its brutality, it has become and remains somewhat familiar The second image, however, is connected with unexpected events that caught people off guard and, with the exception of the few who remember the Spanish flu pandemic that occurred between 1918 and 1920, opened up a swathe of completely new emotional and social scenarios These scenarios are all the more disturbing as the uncertainty rate associated with the virus is high -- virologists and scientists are having to gradually learn about it as the situation unfolds in real time