Reckoning in the Corona drama in Bergamo: Italy's ex-prime minister is accused of “negligent homicide” [premium]

Former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, his then Minister of Health and other politicians have to answer to the judiciary: If they had sealed off the northern Italian city of Bergamo in March 2020, thousands fewer would have died from Covid.

Bergamo was once an insider tip for travelers to Italy. Herman Hesse raved about the palaces and piazzas in “Bergamo Alta”. Today the northern Italian city is world famous, but not because of its beauty: it is a symbol of the immeasurable suffering that the corona pandemic has triggered. In spring 2020, military vehicles transported the bodies of Covid victims to crematoria in Bergamo. There were too many dead to bury. The coffins were lined up in huge halls, and new ones were constantly being added. Many dead had no names.

“We die like dogs”

In March 2020 alone, 5,100 people died in Bergamo and the province, the average monthly death rate was otherwise 800 deaths. Overwhelmed doctors and nurses worked day and night in the hospital, but without triage it was not possible. In the chaos of the hospitals, relatives lost track of sick relatives and often searched desperately for weeks for the corpses. “Here we die like pigs, like dogs,” was the angry video call for help from a resident at the time.