The Lombardy region of northern Italy has been hit very hard by the ongoing pandemic. SVT's European correspondent Christoffer Wendick has visited funerals, cemeteries and intensive care units. On Wednesday, SVT's viewers could see dying people lying in a row in hospital corridors, as they can't fit anywhere else.

- There are very strong pictures and scenes. I already felt there and then that this is strong, it will stir, awaken emotions and hopefully it will give an important picture of a historical event, says Christoffer Wendick, to the Culture News.

Viewers upset

On Thursday afternoon, some 20 reports had been reviewed by the Review Board, but probably more were. Notifiers are critical of the dying people being filmed.

Charlotta Friborg, responsible publisher, says that the documentary, moving image plays a crucial role during a disaster and exemplifies images of dead people during the September 9 terror attack in New York and the image of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi lying dead on a beach.

"It is the kind of images that media never publish in ordinary cases, but to understand the extent of a human disaster you make exceptions," she says.

Charlotta Friborg emphasizes that the image sections have been made so that the sick can not be identified. In other cases, the faces have blurred.

Could SVT be able to make the same contribution to a Swedish intensive care unit?

- It is difficult to answer, today we had not done so, but if we come in a situation similar to that in Italy, we can think about.

"Described as a state of war"

Christoffer Wendick says that the response has been extensive and divided: most grateful, but also angry. The features are filmed at two intensive care clinics. The managers have let in TV teams without restrictions.

- Regular rules do not apply, it is about saving as many people as possible. They wanted us to show this to Sweden and the world. For countries like Sweden to avoid the situation Italy is in, they describe it as a state of war, says Christoffer Wendick.