They left for India a fortnight ago. The mission of Simonetta Filippini and her husband Enzo Galli was a mission of love: to take their two-year-old daughter, just adopted and, after having completed the procedures for adoption, to return to Italy. That love mission has turned into a nightmare for the Florentine couple. Left for India 15 days ago with the International Adoption association of Florence for an international adoption together with 70 other Italians, the couple who lives in the province of Florence, in Campi Bisenzio, asks for help to be able to return from New Delhi . The woman tested positive for Covid, which is why she was first taken to the hospital and is now in a health hotel while her husband is in a hotel with the 2-year-old child she had up for adoption. The story is told by The Nation to which wife and husband, Simonetta Filippini and her husband Enzo Galli, explained what is happening.
The adoption process took place in a very short time. No boarding, however, then on the plane that should have brought them home : «Wednesday morning - says Enzo - Simonetta tested positive at Covid while I» and the child «were negative. At that point the situation precipitated ». Simonetta was taken to the hospital and then transferred to a Covid hotel, returning reachable by phone. «I was in a room of two meters by two meters with seven people - his words reported in the newspaper - and some died before my eyes. Our policy provides for the possibility of a quota flight and the embassy and the government must help us ».
Then, reached on the phone by Corriere Fiorentino , Mrs. Simonetta added: "I saw dead people lying on the floor in the corridors of the hospital, I saw panting bodies on makeshift stretchers, I saw corpses burning on the sidewalks and in the parks of New Delhi, I stayed in a two-by-two-meter hospital room with other people with Covid. Here is the apocalypse, horror movie scenes are experienced every day, please help us get back to Italy ».
«From the hotel windows - says Enzo - we see that the corpses of the dead of Covid are burning in the street. It is impressive and we are concerned. We have all been separated, with us there are couples from various areas of Italy and also have children in need of care in Italy. We have the permit exit from the Indian state to get out but they don't let us leave: staying here waiting for a negative buffer means making us die. Outside there is the smell of death and it is indescribable ». The Italian embassy in India took action by identifying the hypothesis of the Air France New Delhi Paris flight but the Indian authorities would not decide to take positive foreign people on board.
"Currently, the situation of the lady and her husband Enzo Galli is complicated, but under control," says Andrea Zoletto, general manager of International Adoption, the association that followed the couple . "We are constantly in contact with Mr. Galli - explains Zoletto -, he and the child are in a 5-star hotel in absolute safety and are well. The lady is in a health hotel, in a room with another person. This morning, thanks to the doctor of the Italian embassy, ??he was able to do another swab, the result is expected in 48 hours: if it is negative, the ambassador guarantees boarding on a KLM or Air France flight, but if it is positive he will have to stay there at least ten days, the Indian authorities are extremely strict on this ». If it is positive, the next tampon should be done in 8 days, during which time the woman will remain in the facility. To complicate the situation, according to what has been learned, there are also problems of understanding by language and "unfortunately their companion, one of our men - adds Zoletto - was stuck with the lockdown and can only provide remote assistance". However, the situation seems to be calmer thanks to the intervention of the embassy. "The consul hears from her husband several times a day - confirms Zoletto - I must say that the Italian authorities provide maximum assistance". «When the gentlemen left - said Zoletto - the situation in India was not so dramatic:« It is suddenly mentioned and we have blocked everything. The other couples are returning because no one tested positive ».