First of all, there is terrible news coming out of Italy every day, and bergamot is at the center of it.

What is the situation right now?

I work in Bergamo.

I'm a medical doctor and I am healthy director off a hospital in Bergamo.

The situation, I can say, exploded towards the end off February, Uh, myself.

I indeed the first test for coronavirus in a nurse.

And it was working in our nor single for held early people on the 26 2 off February.

And after five days, we got the result.

It was positive, but already six or seven elderly people started having fever and pneumonia in that nursing home where the nurse was working.

And from there it exploded everywhere.

So, uh, we did not have time enough time for preparedness.

And we had to deal with the emergency situation that really exploded in few days.

And now the case is a rose in the past two weeks.

And still there are new cases, but I Iove will reach a plateau A hopefully next week.

I mean, you use the word exploded.

That is exactly right.

When you think that your first case was only on the 26th of February, and yet we look at the terrible death rate coming.

That was the first identified the case because the nurse and the fever on that day and I asked there some questions and discovered that she was in contact with a person whose mother was admitted in a hospital close to Begum Uh, because of the virus.

So I decided to do the test and that was the first identified case in my hospital.

From your perspective, Why do you think it has taken a group so quickly?

Is it because you said you weren't prepared?

Is it because of the elderly population?

Why do you think it has taken such a fierce grip in your area?

I think only later on we we could maybe understand why it happened like these.

After China, we had cases in Lawdy and Cremona, the tart to cities in the northern area off Italy, 100 kilometres and 70 kilometers, respectively, from a bergamot and then bergamot.

And now Brescia, which is like 30 kilometers from Bergamo, is difficult to understand the why in in those cities, especially, and we know that since the meat the family tree.

The cases were increasing in that area in Bergamo area, but still there was no, um rules and norms is emitting the movement off the population.

So the population continued moving around and the cases were increasing, increasing, increasing When all the measures were taken, it was good, I think, for the rest off Italy, Millan and the other seat is the rest off it'll but unfortunately bergamot area And like other cities law Cremona were already affected.

So for for Raza in married Um oh, it was too late.

I hope for the rest off Italian.

For the rest off the world, this experience would teach something So you will be ableto act promptly and the earlier and because the only thing to limit the virus is to limit the movement off the population.

Because even in our hospital we limited the people entering the hospital only for urgent visits.

We limited the visits to impatience.

We did it.

Three object the entrance off the hospital to see if people had the symptoms are contacts with positive cases.

We tried our best to prevent, but when you have the virus spread all over around in the neighborhood, the area and, uh, in the city.

Then really you can't control it because even the health workers, they live in the same place.

They get the virus at home.

They get to the virus everywhere I decided the hospital.

And so what has been the impact on the hospitals there on health workers like yourself?

How have they managed off course they head.

There is a lot off worker to do.

In this moment, we are using personal protective equipment, a butt like some health workers like myself.

I was one off the 1st 1 to get the vitals.

I can't say why I got it, because I used the mask and the glass and all the protective keep meant to visit the people.

But what I can say is there are some people that are symptomatic ce or with mild symptoms.

And some people are your colleagues.

Even medical doctors, nurses, your colleagues in the health care facility.

So when you are with them, usually you don't protect yourself enough because you feel safe.

So the only thing between colleagues off people is if you feel sick, you have fever.

You have something you need to stay home immediately because when you have symptoms, you can spread the virus.

So usually when you get ah, sound fever, you take some pier six tablets and then you go to work.

In this moment.

Well, everybody should avoid it.

If you feel sick, you have fever.

You need to stay home immediately because otherwise you can transmit it to other people, especially colleagues.

And usually you don't protect yourself when you are with colleagues.

Describe for me.

What?

That terrible combination.

Well, they really rapidly spreading virus on dhe doctors and health workers being infected at the same time.

What sort of pressure is that?

Putting on your health service, your hospitals is putting a lot of pressure.

Why?

Because health worker with the virus can transmit it also to the other people and that the health worker is supposed to think you're off to a cure.

And some of these people are after three people with other diseases, so it becomes really dangerous for them and us work, and you become like a doctor for the virus to spread.

And there is a lot off psychological pressure because you feel guilty because of that.

But sometimes you can't avoid it because you don't know you after virus.

And the only thing is to use all protection in our area.

And we say we are all positive.

We believe we are all positive and we have to behave.

If we are all positive, we'll have the virus and we have to tryingto avoid to transmit it to others.

You have two things to take into consideration.

There are guidelines and there is psychological emotional status.

So we're following the mutual guidelines and the which are saying that you you need to use only surgical mask.

Take care off people with the Corona virus unless you do some invasive procedure that produced the aerosol.

So in that case you needed advanced masks which are fingered mask.

But now, nowadays, in our context, it is impossible to say so to my colleagues.

Tow the health workers because the fear is too high.

And so everybody wants to feel protective as much as possible.

But also sorry to interrupt you, but also you talk about the psychological impact.

We've been running films from hospitals in your area.

You can see health workers are doing absolutely everything they can, but they're also being forced to make very tough decisions about who they contrite and who they can't treat.

They're seeing significant numbers of patients dying.

I just wonder, what is the long term cycle it psychological impact of that on them on you.

In fact, now we are in the emergency.

So there is a reaction reaction, a CZ you say the disease, the impact.

We will see it later after the emergency because now you don't have even time to think you have just toe act actor induct quickly.

We have activated a psychological service in our hospital for all the people they want to use it.

Our health workers.

They can call and talk with psychologists.

But I believe, as you say, that this service will be even more important after the emergency because right now you need to take care off everybody and running everywhere.

Me, I have to stay isolated at home because I have the virus.

I can spread it to others.

But in my role of coordination, I'm working from home trying to coordinate with my colleagues with the institutions and and all the things I can do from distance my colleagues are running.

Take care off the people.

But after this emergency, when we will realize what was happening, how many people died and we have a CZ I said it.

We have a hospital and next to the hospital there is a nurse single for elderly people.

For these people, really, when they become positive, we can just keep some support to them.

We cannot even send them tow intensive care units because a bulls 80 years old, they can't go there in this moment.

So this is very said them painful for a health worker because your mission is to save lives in lateral right now.

In some cases, you have to just give some support.

What would your message bay to the UK were said to be two weeks behind you?

What would you be saying to us now?

What would your message bay stay home?

Don't move because this is the only way toe prevent the spread of the virus.

At the beginning, we were also thinking this is simply a flu, is not a flu, is giving a lot of pneumonia and is very dangerous for a lot of people.

Elderly ones.

But even younger ones.

I have colleagues off 45 50 years old in intensive care units.

So the only way is to stay home and for healthcare facilities be prepared.

Be prepared with personal protective equipment much more than you think you need.

And secondly, increase the beds for incomes intensive care units for infectious disease.

These are the only way for partners if you have enough time and the train it okay to the health workers on the preventive measures don't give them for granted because in normal times we forget those measures.

So we need to be remembered all the time.

Washington's and dunk off on your hands and use masks and all these things you need to repeat, repeat and train or everything.

And finally, do you see any light at the end of the tunnel or when you look to the future, do still feel fear.

I believe, at least in our area in Bergamo, they're the worst is happening now.

So I believe after these we cannot experience worse than these s O way will start recording and, uh, coming out from this situation from the people that are still waiting for this to come.

You have enough time to prepare and toe in order for this Toby toe have less impact that they then they impacted the that ed on house.

Sylvia been Yamini.

Thank you so much for talking to us today.

Thank you.

Thank you.