An elderly couple is making the most of their retirement days by spending quality time in a tiny Italian hamlet. Giovanni Carilli and Giampiero Nobili are the only two residents of the hamlet as they have no neighbours and rarely leave the secluded town of Nortosce, which is located in the province of Perugia in Umbria, and sits on top of a rocky gorge in the Nerina Valley.

Despite being the only citizens, the elderly couple is not complacent towards the COVID-19 outbreak, following the COVID-19 protocols to the T. According to a report on CNN, neither Carilli nor Nobili feels protected from the virus.

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“I’m dead scared of the virus. If I get sick, I’m on my own, who would look after me? I’m old, but I want to keep living here looking after my sheep, vines, beehives and orchard. Hunting truffles and mushrooms. I enjoy my life,” CNN quoted Carilli as saying.

Currently, Italians are required to observe a social distance of one meter, while wearing masks is mandatory, both indoors and outdoors.

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Nobili feels ‘it would be disrespectful for either of them to ignore the strict measures put in place during the pandemic, despite their rather exceptional circumstances’.

“Wearing a mask and respecting social distancing is not just for health reasons. It’s not something ‘bad’ or ‘good’. If there are rules you need to abide by them for your own sake and other people’s. It’s a matter of principle,” CNN quoted Nobili.