Families of coronavirus victims demand € 100 million from Italian authorities

The plaintiffs accuse the authorities of an inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to dire consequences and caused the introduction of quarantine.

“Several hundred Italian residents, whose loved ones have died from the coronavirus, went to court demanding that members of the government pay them € 100 million ($ 122 million) as compensation”, - RBC reports.

The claim from 500 relatives of the victims was registered in the court of Rome. Among the defendants in the civil case are the Prime Minister of the country Giuseppe Conte, the head of the Ministry of Health Roberto Speranza and the Governor of Lombardy Attilio Fontana. On average, each of the plaintiffs seeks compensation in the amount of € 259,000.

The first public organization to protect the rights of families affected by the coronavirus was created in April this year in the city of Bergamo, the capital of Lombardy. Plaintiffs blame federal and regional authorities for failing to take action to avoid a lockdown and the accompanying economic damage during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Lombardy in February this year.

Initially, public figures tried to bring the authorities to criminal responsibility for the weak response to the pandemic. However, the prosecutor's office, after questioning Prime Minister Conte as a witness, did not open a criminal case.

The first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was identified on February 20 in Lombardy, home to a large community of immigrants from China. Then the infection rapidly spread to the surrounding area, and soon the whole country, making Italy one of the world leaders in the number of patients and deaths from coronavirus.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, about 2 million people have fallen ill in the country, over 70 thousand patients have died.