A lawyer representing Lombardy
Governor Attilio Fontana on Sunday called on Bergamo prosecutors
to halt the media appearances of an expert consultant in
relation to their probe into allegedly criminal conduct in the
handling of the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in
Italy.
Fontana is among 19 people under investigation, along with
ex-premier Giuseppe Conte and former health minister Roberto
Speranza, over the failure to make Nembro and Alzano Lombardo
red zones early in 2020 as the authorities had done in other
contagion hotspots in the province of Lodi.
A Bergamo prosecutor has said that over 4,000 COVID-19 deaths
could have been saved by declaring these towns red zones.
On Sunday the expert, top microbiologist Andrea Crisanti, told
Rai television that he believed serious misjudgements had been
made in the early days of the pandemic.
"If you say that we are all exonerated, I think it would open
the path to a situation of unpreparedness next time," Crisanti
said.
"Closing your eyes to a disaster means opening the road to
another disaster".
Jacopo Pensa, one of Fontana's lawyers, said the defence team
was "astounded" to see Crisanti "on television on a daily basis
to reiterate his accusations.
"The Bergamo prosecutor's office must warn its consultant about
these insistent appearances," he added.
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