Italy now has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases around the world, next to China, where the novel coronavirus originated, and now the city of Bergamo, the worst-hit city in the country is overwhelmed by the patients and deaths amid the pandemic.
A Parade of the Dead
According to Reuters, a video has emerged of a fleet of military trucks moving coffins of coronavirus victims out of the city to neighboring provinces where they will be cremated.
An army spokesman has confirmed that they have deployed 15 Italian military trucks, manned by 50 soldiers to move the dead from the city of Bergamo.
As per Business Insider, the fleet moved 61 bodies to 12 different Italian towns, including Parma and Modena, where the bodies will be cremated.
The fleet of the army trucks carrying the dead is now dubbed in Italy as "one of the saddest photos in the history of our country."
A #Bergamo hanno dovuto chiamare l'esercito per caricare camion e camion di bare da destinare a crematori fuori regione. Prima di lamentarvi della proroga del #lockdown riguardatevi sto video in loop.#coronavirusitalia pic.twitter.com/ofR1raGVTb — Alessandro Zanoni (@AlexZan87) March 19, 2020
Bergamo Can No Longer Keep Up
The move happened after the local government of Bergamo appealed for help with cremations as the local crematoriums can no longer keep up with the dead, and that the ashes will be brought back to the city.
The official in charge of the Bergamo cemeteries, Giacomo Angeloni, has spoken up, saying that their mortuaries are full and crematorium staff has to handle 24 bodies a day, twice the usual number, including non-virus related deaths and can't keep up.
The crematoriums have been working 24/7 since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in the city.
Since the mortuaries are already full, Metro reported that the coffins arriving every day are put in churches with the pews removed to make space for the dead.
Overwhelming the Frontliners
Additionally, the provincial governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, said that the doctors and nurses in the region are "at their limits."
"I'm worried about the possibility they could succumb physically and psychologically because if they were to succumb, it would really be a disaster," Fontana said during an interview at a local radio station.
As if to prove the governor's fears, another video has emerged online, showing an overcrowded hospital, still in the city of Bergamo, where patients can be seen lying on their beds and lining the corridors of an intensive care unit.
Italy Lockdown Extended?
As of Wednesday, March 18, there are 93 deaths in Bergamo and a total of 4,305 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease brought by the novel coronavirus.
Nevertheless, Bergamo mayor Giorgio Gori believes that there are more deaths than reported.
Mayor Gori confirmed that there had been a significant number of deaths in the city, but they died at their homes or in a nursing home without being tested for COVID-19.
As the cases are still growing at an alarming rate, the quarantine measures are most likely going to be extended beyond their original deadline, as warned by Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte.
Italy has closed off its doors to the rest of the world, and citizens were urged to stay at home to help avoid the further spread of the disease, but the numbers are still mounting, along with the deaths it brought.
