Italy bows to the memory of its almost 160,000 COVID-19 victims, President Sergio Mattarella said on the national day of remembrance for the victims of the coronavirus epidemic on Friday.
March 18 was chosen as the day of memory because it was on that day in 2020 that the most tragic and emblematic image of the first COVID wave was recorded: convoys of army trucks taking coffins away from an overloaded Bergamo, the worst-hit northern city. “The date of March 18 2020 remains etched into the memory of Italians,” said the head of State.
“An image, that of the military lorries transporting from Bergamo the victims cut down from a virus at the time unknown, which encapsulated the drama of the whole pandemic. “We bow to the memory of the victims. In the grief of their relatives the entire national community sees itself. “On this symbolic day, which Parliament chose to institute, we have the opportunity to remember the many who are not here anymore and, together, the contribution of those who helped safeguard collective health, and helped essential services work.
“Scientists and researchers, doctors, nurss, health staff, public administrators, men and women of the Civil Protection department, soldiers and police, volunteers, constituted a bulwark on which we were able to count. Our gratitude goes out to all of them”. Mattarella went on to say that the spirit of sacrifice of Italians during the pandemic had yielded a precious heritage. “The spirit of sacrifice, the awareness of feeling responsible for one another, which the vast majority of our citizens showed they possessed, is a precious patrimony for the challenges that the Country is faced with, and must not be squandered”, he said. The president added that Italy is now seeking to ensure normal life resumes.
“The Republic is strongly committed to guarantee the rhythms of a renewed life of our community, without forgetting the lesson of what has happened,” he said. “The bewilderment in the face of such an insidious threat was soon replaced by a tenacious reaction, made up of courageous collective choices and wise individual behaviour, who enabled us to address a challenge that was unprecedented in the recent history of humanity”.
