An elderly Italian couple who had been married for over 60 years die two hours apart of the coronavirus while under lockdown. Their son is heartbroken that he wasn't allowed to visit them in their final hours.
Severa Belotti, 82, and Luigi Carrara, 86, were confined to their home in Albino, in the northern province of Bergamo, one of the country's worst-affected regions without any medical assistance.
The heartbroken son, Luca Carrara, told local outlets that his parents didn't receive any treatment despite suffering from a fever of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) for eight days.
Luca said his father, who worked as a bricklayer before retirement, was admitted to Bergamo hospital on Saturday while his mother was taken to the same hospital on Sunday.
Sadly, one of the parents died on Tuesday at 9.15 am. The other followed at 11 am, less than two hours later.
Luca said:
"They died alone. That's how this virus works. Your loved ones are left alone, and you can't even say goodbye, hug them, try to give them some comfort. (You can't even tell them) a good lie like 'everything will be fine.'"
Luca is currently in quarantine with his wife and two children. He added he could not see his parents even after they died because they were taken to the cemetery and cremated within days. After all, 'there are too many dead people.'
He also criticized the hospital for how it's handling the crisis. He claims the staff 'do not know where to put patients, probably because doctors are making a selection and letting the elderly people leave.'
In a touching social media tribute to his parents, he wrote:
"Hi mum and dad, this bad virus made you leave the same day. Will you keep bickering up there too? I think so, but then everything ended up in a hug."
Luca said his father had no pre-existing medical conditions and even cautioned people to be very careful about the outbreak.
Taking to Facebook, Luca wrote:
"People have to understand that they have to stay home because it is okay to keep saying that the victims are just old, but it's tough when it happens to their parents."
There are over 12,462 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Italy, the most anywhere outside of mainland China. So far, 827 people have died.
