Italian Covid bereaved want inquiry extended beyond early outbreak

Families say there are lessons to be learned as first Covid cases in 16 European countries came from Italy.

Relatives of coronavirus victims in Italy are pushing for a full public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic as documents from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show the first Covid-19 cases registered in 16 European countries originated from Italy.

Italy was the first western country to report an outbreak and has the second highest Covid-related death toll (131,335) in Europe after the UK (137,763).

The first local transmission of the infection was diagnosed in Codogno, a Lombardy town south of Milan, on 21 February 2020. But a parliamentary commission set up to investigate the government’s handling of coronavirus will only focus on the period until 30 January 2020, the day before a national emergency was declared.

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