Covid probe "could not be shelved" says prosecutor

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 2 - Bergamo Chief Prosecutor Antonio Chiappani said Thursday an investigation into the government's handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020 could not be shelved given the very large number of victims and the reports from consultants saying the deaths could have been avoided. "In the face of the thousands of deaths and the consultations that tell us these could possibly have been prevented, we could not end by throwing out the investigation," the prosecutor told the Agorà television programme.
    Chiappani has led a three-year probe into the alleged failure of former premier Giuseppe Conte and his government to take adequate measures to contain the spread of the virus by creating a "red zone" in two areas in the province of Bergamo hit hardest by the outbreak.
    In all, around 20 people are under investigation, including Conte himself, the then health minister Roberto Speranza, Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, former Lombardy councillor Giulio Gallera, president of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy's main centre for research, control and technical-scientific advice on public health, Silvio Brusaferro, and president of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità, the health ministry's senior advisory body, Franco Locatelli.
    There was an "inadequate risk assessment", Chiappani said separately to Radio24.
    "Our aim," he said, "was to reconstruct what happened and to give answers to the people of Bergamo, who were affected in an unbelievable way. We wanted to assess whether, as we believe, charges can be upheld on grounds of this inadequate risk assessment," continued the chief prosecutor.
    Chiappani said an emergency decree of 23 February had made it possible to create "red zones" by shutting off specific areas to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
    Investigators claim in March 2020 Conte, Speranza and other top officials underestimated the contagiousness of Covid-19, failing to create a "red zone" in Nembro and Alzano Lombardo, two areas hit hardest by the outbreak. (ANSA).