Amnesty International has called for an independent parliamentary investigation into coronavirus deaths in Italian nursing homes and reports of reprisals against workers of these institutions who spoke of unsafe conditions.
Amnesty based its findings on interviews with 34 health professionals as well as union leaders and lawyers. Amnesty said Friday in a statement that one third of workers “expressed concern about the climate of fear and retaliation in their workplaces”.
The nursing homes in Italy, like those elsewhere in Europe, the United States and beyond, have seen a large percentage of deaths for Corona. Prosecutors in dozens of jurisdictions opened criminal investigations to see if these deaths could have been averted.
Italy was the first Western country to be hit by the virus epidemic and soon found itself suffering from a severe shortage of protective equipment, masks and hospital beds, especially in the most affected region of Lombardy. During the first wave of infections, many residents of aged care facilities in Lombardy were not brought in hospital for treatment, because there was no room for them.
In addition to the significant losses suffered by nursing home residents, Amnesty said some staff members who complained about the lack of protective equipment or raised other concerns about unsafe working conditions in the facilities were subject to disciplinary action.
One of the cases cited by Amnesty concerns the arrest of Pietro La Grassa, a union representative at the Pio Albergo Trivolzio nursing home in Milan, the largest in Italy.
Italian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation at the Trivolzio nursing home after La Grassa and some doctors and staff raised concerns about the high death toll at the start of the outbreak. Some workers said the housekeepers had told them not to wear masks for fear of spreading terror among the residents.
Read More About: World News
