The Unusual Frontier-worker

I am a ‘border-worker’. However, I am one of the few in the category who moves between two countries not for economic but for family reasons. Instead of working in wealthy Switzerland and living in the less opulent Italy, as the vast majority of cross-border commuters do, I live in Switzerland and work in Italy. Even worse, I do not work in the north of Italy (for example, in Lombardy to then move to the Italian-speaking Canton Ticino) but in the southernmost part, Sicily. Thus, like the many regular intra-European travellers, I managed to live with the Covid19 emergency for about a month, often flying from the Milan Linate Airport, and then renting car on arrival in Sicily at Catania Airport in order to avoid public transport. This lasted until a warm morning of early March, when I was almost diverted to a Parisian airport to spend 14 days in isolation there. Luckily, I managed to reach Geneva Airport and from there go by train to the village where my family lives. I arrived just in time, because a few hours later the situation worsened, especially in northern Italy. Then, all face-to-face teaching in my University in Messina was replaced by remote activities. What follows starts on the day of my arrival in Switzerland and ends on 11 May 2020.