Editorial
Shortly after I finished delivering a keynote lecture on minor salivary
gland cancers on February 23, 2020 at the Candiolo Cancer Institute in
Turin, Italy, the conference chairs Drs. Giovanni Succo and Piero
Nicolai announced that the conference was urgently adjourned and the
rest of the program canceled. This unexpected announcement was in
compliance with the Italian government’s orders to immediately end all
public gatherings. Two days earlier as I set out to travel to Italy,
where no cases of coronavirus infection had yet been reported, news
reports were focused mostly on South Korea and Iran as hotspots of
COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, I double-checked again before
leaving for the airport and confirmed that Italy had no reported cases.
Upon my arrival in Turin I was greeted by the usual warm welcome and
well-known hospitality of our Italian colleagues. At the welcome
reception they discussed the earlier morning report of the first five
confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lombardy region and its capital Milan.
The next day, as the unplanned adjournment was announced on the first
day of the 3-day conference, there were more than 120 reported cases
ushering what would be the first significant outbreak in Europe. The
conference chair read the Italian government emergency prohibition of
public gatherings, canceling the Milan fashion week, the Venice
carnival, and closing all schools and universities. But when he
announced that the football (aka Soccer) game was canceled I knew that
the situation was grave. As most of us know it almost takes an act of
God to cancel a football game in Italy! Without delay I scrambled to get
a flight back home only 24 hours after I arrived in Turin. On my way to
the airport I saw on my news app that France had stopped a train of
passengers from Italy and diverted it back. I was concerned about my
connection in Frankfurt and ultimately getting back to USA. As I passed
every step of screening and temperature checks I finally landed in
Houston with a huge sigh of relief. Following instructions that were
urgently sent that day, I immediately contacted our employee health at
MD Anderson where I was carefully screened and cleared to go back to
work.