Corona in Italy: the video of the hospital in Naples causes indignation

Miseria Corona in Italy: the video from the hospital in Naples causes violent reactions

A shock video from a hospital in Naples and the leap over the million crown cases trigger new alarm calls in Italy. A patient was found dead in a bathroom in the port city of Naples in southern Italy.

A video film that, according to media reports, shows the accident in the emergency room, on Thursday provoked violent reactions across the country. There was also a corridor overflowing with hospital beds.

“The photos of the patient found dead at the Cardarelli hospital in Naples are shocking,” Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook Wednesday evening. “In Naples and in many parts of Campania the situation is out of control”. There are reports of people in the Gulf of Naples being treated by car in parking lots. Others would have waited too long to be transported to the hospital, he wrote.

The situation “is not out of control”

The heads of the Cardarelli hospital have promised an investigation into the circumstances of the death. The hospital is working under great pressure, but the situation is not out of control, he said. Clinic director Giuseppe Longo assured Thursday, according to the Ansa news agency, that all patients could be treated appropriately.

Regional minister Francesco Boccia said the video images are shameful for all those responsible. At the same time, in a television interview with broadcaster La7, he pointed out that too many people with mild coronary symptoms come to the hospital instead of taking home treatment.

Southern Italy particularly affected by Corona

On Wednesday, the Mediterranean country with its 60 million inhabitants exceeded the one million crown cases registered. At the same time, 623 people died within 24 hours of or with the pathogen Sars-CoV-2. The last time the death toll in Italy was this high during the first Corona wave in a negative phase in early April.

The north and especially Lombardy were invaded by the first wave of viruses. There is Bergamo, where hospitals and cemeteries were completely overloaded in the spring. Images of coffins being carried out of the city in military trucks have been around the world.

Currently, however, many other regions of Italy are heavily affected by the second corona wave. This time, poor areas of southern Italy are also experiencing high levels of infection. This includes Campania, where some 3,000 new cases have recently occurred a day. The virus has hit the hardest this time in Lombardy. The hospital system in the north is considered to be much better than that in southern Italy. However, experts from some regions of the country also reported that the contagion curve has flattened out in recent days, which gives hope.

Politicians warn of the collapse of hospitals

Due to the different regional locations, the government of Rome recently divided the country into three areas at risk in the fight against the pandemic. More than half of the 20 regions have been designated as red or orange zones. In the red areas – including Lombardy and Piedmont to the north and Calabria to the south – partial blocks with exit restrictions apply.

Naples and Campania as a whole have so far been classified as a moderate risk area (yellow) by the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Several politicians had harshly criticized this in recent days and warned of the collapse of the hospitals there. After the shock video from Naples, there were signs that Roma wanted to re-examine the situation. (sda / dpa)