Vo is a small town in Veneto, Northern Italy, where the first European victim of COVID-19 was documented. It was the first area in Italy to be declared a “red zone”, and after the discovery of that first COVID-19 case in February 2020, no one was allowed in or out. Fortunately for residents of Vo, they had a microbiology professor with them. Andrea Crisanti, a professor at the University of Padua, offered to test all 3,100 citizens early in the outbreak, and 95% of the city agreed to the experiment. One hundred civilians were found to have COVID-19 and were kept in strict isolation. The lockdown was successful in slowing the spread of the virus, and this method would later be used elsewhere in the world. The citizens were also tested for the presence of antibodies in May 2020, and again six months later to monitor immunity to the coronavirus.
Photographer Matteo de Mayda photographed the city as it went from a red zone to an experiment to quarantine COVID patients to one of the healthiest places in Italy. “This information is important for understanding how long immunization takes and also with regard to vaccine development,” said Mayda.
Going forward, Crisanti’s work could help save thousands of lives on a global level, de Mayda said. The information obtained from the testing and locking would not have been possible without the cooperation of the citizens, who also agreed to provide personal data and other sensitive information for the purposes of the investigation.
The Mayda started shooting in April 2020, capturing an abandoned city just starting to emerge after months of lockdown. He photographed the city’s healing process, from the early tests to volunteering to retesting the citizen for antibodies and the residents who still struggled with the long-term effects of the virus.
He hopes to keep up with the residents and work of Crisanti as vaccines continue to roll out and Vo’s citizens try to get their lives back on track.