(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 17 - Italy on Wednesday set up a COVID
victims remembrance day on March 18 each year, according to a
bill approved by a Senate panel.
The bill was unanimously approved by the constitutional affairs
committee in the upper house in a process that bypasses approval
by the sitting parliament.
March 18 was the day Italy saw its peak daily death toll of
almost 3,000 and images of army trucks taking coffins away from
full cemeteries in the Lombardy city of Bergamo hit the
headlines amid a raging epidemic in the north of the country
last year.
The day is mean to "preserve and renew the memory of all the
people who died because of he epidemic", according to the bill.
On Thursday, March 18, Premier Mario Draghi will visit Bergamo,
the symbol of the early toll from the virus, to celebrate the
first national day of remembrance and mourning for the
coronavirus dead.
A minute's silence will be observed across the country.
President Sergio Mattarella will also be in attendance. (ANSA).
Italy sets up COVID victims day
On March 18, day when death toll peaked at nearly 3,000