Coronavirus: Newspaper obituaries reveals true toll in Italy

Newspaper obituaries show the scale of the outbreak in Italy.

The devastating effect of the novel coronavirus on northern Italy has been spelled out by a simple video being shared widely online showing the pages of a local newspaper filled with the names of the dead.

The video shows Italian man Giovanni Locatelli leafing through the obituary pages of L'Eco di Bergamo, a daily paper in the Lombardy region, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak.

He shows a copy of the paper from February 9, one and a half pages of obituaries at a time when Italy had only confirmed three cases.

The copy dated March 13 shows the grim toll taken by the spread of Covid-19, which by then had infected over 17 thousand Italians, and killed 1,266.

Look listen and learn. A powerful video.
At the heart of Italy's Coronavirus outbreak, Giovanni Locatelli compares the obituaries page of local daily newspaper @webEcodiBergamo on February 9 and March 13. pic.twitter.com/fr7mwucedO

— Sara Whelan (@sarawb) March 15, 2020

He slowly turns the obituary pages, now numbering 10, showing names and faces of those taken by the disease.

He ends the video with a reminder not to underestimate the coronavirus, which he mockingly labels "a simple flu".

Italy's Lockdown Continues

In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of deaths has now climbed past 1400 and infections surged roughly 20 per cent overnight to more than 21,000 because of what authorities characterised as irresponsible behaviour by people still socialising despite the country-wide lockdown.

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Italy has the largest number of confirmed cases and deaths due to Covid-19 outside of China.

Premier Giuseppe Conte has said production - particularly of food and health supplies - must not stop and, on Saturday, union and industrial leaders reached an agreement to keep factories running.

But luxury sports car maker Ferrari said it was suspending production at two plants, citing concern for its employees and serious disruptions in the flow of supplies.