Chief Bergamo Prosecutor Antonio
Chiappani on Friday denounced a "chian of errors" in the
handling of the Covid outbreak in northern Italy's Bergamo area
that investigators claim led to more than 4,000 deaths that
could have been prevented.
Chiappani, who oversaw a three-year probe that closed on
Wednesday with notice of investigation for culpable epidemic
served to 19 suspects including then premier Giuseppe Conte and
health minister Roberto Speranza and Lombardy Governor Attilio
Fontana, was speaking in an interview to La Repubblica and La
Stampa newspapers.
"The investigation illustrates the mistakes that were made, a
chain of mistakes. Without those mistakes, we would not have had
all these deaths," Chiappani said.
The probe focuses on the failure to extend a red zone from
Bergamo to outlying areas after the virus broke out there in
early 2020.
"(I received) a consulting report telling me that if action had
been taken six days earlier than necessary, 4,000 deaths would
have been prevented. In the face of something like that, how
could I shut down the investigation and shelve it?" said the
prosecutor.
"I think it was right to investigate, and now it is right that
someone else, namely the judges, should draw conclusions," he
concluded.
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