Drop case against Conte and Speranza - prosecutors

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 29 - Brescia prosecutors have filed a request to Italy's 'court of ministers' to shelve an investigation into ex-premier Giuseppe Conte and former health minister Roberto Speranza over the handling of the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, legal sources said on Monday.
    Conte, the leader of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), and Speranza are among 19 people under investigation on suspicion of negligently causing an epidemic amid claims that over 4,000 deaths could have been saved if the initial red zone had been extended from Bergamo to outlying areas, including another two towns, in February 2020.
    Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, former Lombardy councillor Giulio Gallera, the president of the Higher Health Institute, Italy's main centre for research, control and technical-scientific advice on public health, Silvio Brusaferro, and the president of the Higher Health Council, the health ministry's senior advisory body, Franco Locatelli, are also being probed. (ANSA).