March 18: the day in memory of the victims of Covid

The coffins of Bergamo. The March 18, 2020 it was one of the days destined to mark the memory of our country. It is impossible to forget the image of the military convoy that left Bergamo, the city most affected by the first wave of the epidemic in Italy, to transport the coffins with the coronavirus victims and take them to other cities, to other regions, for cremation. There were about thirty trucks, inside them at least seventy coffins.

For weeks we have continued to see military convoys arrive in front of cemeteries, cross our regions.

Navigating the deserted streets, wrapped in a silence that seemed surreal and to which we never got used to. All of a sudden. In a wave that seemed destined for the other part of the world and instead was very close.

A year later, on March 18, 2021, the National day in memory of the victims of the Coronavirus epidemic. Over 103 thousand Italian ones and still today the sad count does not stop. The Prime Minister Mario Draghi will be in Bergamo to participate in the two planned ceremonies: the first which foresees at 11 the deposition of a wreath of flowers at the monumental cemetery of the city while at the same time a minute of silence will be celebrated in the municipalities of Italy for all victims.

To follow, will be inaugurated on Wood of Memory at the Martin Lutero alla Trucca Park. The project was conceived by the Associazione Comuni Virtuosi (here the online fundraising) and adopted by the municipal administration of Bergamo. A total of 850 shrubs and trees, both fruit and wood, will be planted.

For 18 March, the Presidency of the Council has also requested the display of national and European flags at half mast on public buildings. The final go-ahead for the bill that establishes the National Day in memory of the victims of the Covid-19 epidemic for March 18, arrived on March 17, 2021 from the Senate. Unanimously.