Name: Italy Witnesses Relentless Rise In COVID-19 Deaths
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Italy Witnesses Relentless Rise In COVID-19 Deaths

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Italy Witnesses Relentless Rise In COVID-19 Deaths Italian army trucks are taking coffins of Coronavirus victims from overwhelmed funeral homes — as doctors treating COVID-19 patients issue urgent pleas for help.Heard onToggle more optionsItalian army trucks are taking coffins of Coronavirus victims from overwhelmed funeral homes — as doctors treating COVID-19 patients issue urgent pleas for help.STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:The number of deaths in Italy is still rising. The whole country is on lockdown but does not yet see the effects since it may take a couple of weeks for infected people to get sick. And so more than 1,400 people died in Italy from coronavirus over the weekend. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports that even cemeteries are overwhelmed.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: This video shows large army trucks moving through the town of Bergamo in the dark of night. They're carrying coffins that have been piling up, unburied in the city cemetery, to other towns. Bergamo's crematorium, even working nonstop, can't handle more than 25 bodies a day. Bergamo has a population of 120,000. Obits in the local daily used to take up a page; now they fill at least 10. The numbers of deaths are unimaginable, says Francesco Alleva, spokesman for the town mayor. But he stresses the city is handling them with dignity.FRANCESCO ALLEVA: (Speaking Italian).POGGIOLI: "Brother Mario, an 80-year-old Capuchin friar," says Alleva, "blesses each coffin before it's loaded on a truck. Even in this emergency, we want to show respect for the deceased and for the religious beliefs of the living." The situation in Bergamo hospitals is dire. Images broadcast on Italian TV show medical staff wearing hazmat suits, scrambling in waiting rooms turned into ICUs, while patients are gasping for air. In desperation, Stefano Fagiuoli, head of the medicine department of Papa Giovanni Hospital, turned to social media.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)STEFANO FAGIUOLI: Our health personnel, nurses and physicians are working around the clock, countless hours, to fight this incredible situation. We do not know how long this pandemia will last.POGGIOLI: Fagiuoli said the hospital urgently needs medical staff, ventilators and protective equipment.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)FAGIUOLI: So if you can, please help us. And if you are a health personnel, you are more than welcome to join us in fighting the coronavirus.POGGIOLI: A major TV channel posted a video diary of an unidentified doctor at Treviglio Hospital, also in Bergamo. Speaking emotionally, the doctor says a 47-year-old man with severe breathing problems was brought in last night.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: (Speaking in Italian).POGGIOLI: "My father-in-law just died of this virus, the man told me. It's my turn, so doc, my life is in your hands. I made a pledge to that man," the doctor adds, "I'm not sure I can keep."Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.(SOUNDBITE OF OAKTREE FEAT. PIETER NOOTEN'S "ENCOUNTER")Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website and pages at for further information.NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Sponsor Message

Italy Witnesses Relentless Rise In COVID-19 Deaths Italian army trucks are taking coffins of Coronavirus victims from overwhelmed funeral homes — as doctors treating COVID-19 patients issue urgent pleas for help.Heard onToggle more optionsItalian army trucks are taking coffins of Coronavirus victims from overwhelmed funeral homes — as doctors treating COVID-19 patients issue urgent pleas for help.STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:The number of deaths in Italy is still rising. The whole country is on lockdown but does not yet see the effects since it may take a couple of weeks for infected people to get...

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Italy Witnesses Relentless Rise In COVID-19 Deaths

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