• Live.Coronavirus, last minute
  • Italy.The Italian Government avoids a crisis by overcoming the motion of censure to the Minister of Justice
  • Pandemic.Conte apologizes for the delay of aid in Italy

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte appeared this Friday for three hours before the Bergamo prosecutor, Maria Cristina Rota, to explain his decisions at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, in the framework of an investigation opened for his management of the pandemic , which already totals more than 34,000 deaths in the transalpine country.

The objective of the interrogation, carried out at the seat of the Government in Rome, the Palazzo Chigi, is to clarify on the basis of which criteria the first isolated 'red zones' were established, ten municipalities of Lombardy and another of Veneto (north), and why Others where the infections started to grow were not closed, such as the Lombards Nembro and Alzano.

"Each step has been rebuilt and cleared up ," Conte said at the end of the interrogation. For his part, Rota, upon Chigi's departure and under pressure from journalists, said: "As far as we know, it is a decision of the Government."

The key dates on which the research focuses are from March 3 to 9. During this period, when the army was sent to control the Bergamo area but later it was not declared a 'red zone' , a series of meetings took place between health and political authorities on the management of the emergency in the North of the country, the region most affected by the coronavirus.

The investigation, for the time being without criminal defendants or hypotheses, focuses on gathering information on what has been said at the institutional level during those dates and on verifying if the decision to keep those territories open increased contagion. If so, the authorities would commit a crime and the magistrates should determine if the decision to close the municipalities should be made by the Government or could be the responsibility of the Lombardy Region.

Six days late

A group of relatives of victims, called 'Noi denunceremo' (We will denounce), who has brought their testimonies to the Prosecutor's Office, denounces the shortcomings in hospitals, the lack of care for their loved ones and they suspect that economic criteria were followed to avoid stop this industrialized part of the country.

No one wants to be to blame for the mistakes made in the municipalities whose management is now being investigated. To the question of why the Bergamo area was not closed, the answers have so far been very general. In the Alzano-Nembro industrial district, with less than 300,000 inhabitants, a possible 'red zone' would have affected 376 companies, with a workforce ranging from 120 to 800 employees , for a total of 850 million euros in annual turnover , according to data from Confindustria Bergamo. But the last word always depends on politics. From the regional to the national government, both had the opportunity to intervene. But for six days, from March 3 to 9, nobody took responsibility.

The private correspondence between Rome and Lombardy, and an internal note in the Palazzo Chigi, allow us to reconstruct what happened and help us understand why it took less than 24 hours to establish the 'red zone' around Codogno - with the order signed by the Lombardy President Attilio Fontana and the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza- who guarded the entry and exit in ten municipalities, while it took more than a week for decision-making in the province of Bergamo, given much more alarming data .

The first five daily reports that the Lombardy Region sent to Civil Protection since the morning of February 21 do not mention the situation in the province of Bergamo. For almost a week, outbreaks identified so far were indicated at the bottom of the document. However, on February 27 it is already clear that something is going very wrong in the province. Cases and deaths begin to skyrocket and Nembro becomes the fourth most affected municipality in Lombardy, along with Casalpusterlengo, which is in the 'red zone'.

Army shipping

On March 3, there were already 423 infected in the province, 58 in Nembro and 26 in Alzano. The report of that day of the Scientific Technical Committee says: "At the end of the afternoon, the data related to the two aforementioned municipalities arrived at the Higher Institute of Health, after being examined by the Committee. In this sense, it was heard by telephone Health Councilor Giulio Gallera and General Manager Luigi Cajazzo of the Lombardy region, confirming the data (...) Each of the two municipalities has registered more than 20 cases, probably attributable to a single transmission chain. "

The Committee then proposes to adopt the appropriate restrictive measures already taken in the municipalities in the 'red zone' to limit the spread of the infection in adjacent areas. "This objective criterion may, in the future, be applied in similar contexts," adds the report. That night, some army trucks appear in the Seriana Valley area . It seems like the prelude to total closure.

But nothing happens. On March 4, Conte signs a new decree that provides for the suspension until March 15 for universities, schools, theaters and cinemas across the country. However, for the Palazzo Chigi "it seemed necessary to acquire more elements to decide whether to extend the 'red zone' only to these two municipalities or, in the presence of a now widespread spread in most of Lombardy, extend that regime to the entire region and other affected areas. "

When the de-escalation began in the country, the northern authorities - with few exceptions - opted to "reopen all or almost everything" as quickly as possible. In fact, Lombardy went so far as to demand more restrictive measures to the Government to control the virus, but it never gets to officially request the establishment of a 'red zone'.

Two ministers from Conte also testified: that of the Interior, Luciana Lamorgese, and that of Health, Roberto Speranza.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Italy
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

Pandemic New calendar of the de-escalation in Italy: opening of gyms and trips between regions

This is how the Italian cure against the coronavirus was born with plasma from cured patients: "We didn't sleep that night"

European UnionThe Visegrad Group, concerned that the EU reactivation fund favors Italy and Spain

See links of interest

  • News
  • Programming
  • Translator
  • Calendar
  • Horoscope
  • Classification
  • League calendar
  • Films
  • Masters 2019
  • Cut notes
  • Themes
  • Seville - Real Betis
  • Granada CF - Getafe
  • Elche - Extremadura UD
  • Fuenlabrada - Tenerife
  • Malaga - Huesca