10,000 cases and growing: ICU beds in Italian epicenter near capacity – will soon have to decide who lives or dies

More than 10,000 people in Italy have been infected with coronavirus — the most in any country outside of China, where the virus originated, officials said Tuesday. A total of 631 people have died from the virus in the country, the Italian Civil Protection department said Tuesday, up from 463 the day prior. On Monday, the country extended a lockdown to include the entire nation after some 16 million people in the country’s “red zone” in Venice and Milan were ordered to isolate on Sunday.

“We all have to renounce something for the good of Italy,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a news conference announcing the quarantine. “We have to do it immediately,” he added. Italy’s government has urged residents to not leave their homes unless they’re going to work, to visit a doctor or for necessary grocery items. A total of 10,149 people have contracted the virus in the country since the outbreak first hit Italy last month. –NY Post

The brother of a woman infected with COVID-19 says the family was forced to keep her body in the house for more than 36 hours because funeral services refused to collect her. It was only when Luca Franzese made an impassioned plea in a video on Facebook – with his sister Teresa’s body visible in the background – that a local funeral home came to the family’s aid. As part of the national lockdown, all funerals in Italy have been banned, leaving health authorities struggling over how to deal with those who have died in their homes.

An employee of the Aprea Funeral Home, Pasquale Pernice, confirmed to Al Jazeera the company had entered the home where a number of family members, including the siblings’ elderly parents, were in self-isolation. “It was surreal,” Pernice said. “We used masks, sterile shoes, hazmat suits, glasses, and gloves. “Luca and another relative were there, but other family members were all in another room.” Pernice said staff took woman’s body to a nearby cemetery and buried her with no family members present.

A local councillor and member of the Regional Health Commission for Campania, Francesco Emilio Borrelli, told Al Jazeera it was the first case in Italy where a person with the virus had died at home. “So, there was some confusion on what to do,” he said. “Now the big problem is that (the Franzese family) have been closed in there for four days, and no one is taking away their trash. “It’s getting unhygienic and we don’t know what to do about it. Someone needs to help them.” Teresa Franzese was only 47 but suffered from a form of epilepsy. According to her brother, she developed symptoms of COVID-19 last week and died on Saturday.  –7 News