SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB Luca Franzese speaks in front of the body of his sister Teresa Franzese, who died at home after contracting coronavirus and whose body was not picked up by undertakers and the local hospital due to uncertainty before the results of a test for the disease was known, in Naples, Italy, March 8, 2020 in this picture obtained from social media. Picture taken March 8, 2020.
A heartbreaking video of an Italian actor from the television drama "Gomorrah" circulated online, as the actor pleads for help as he narrated how he was exposed to the body of his dead sister that had coronavirus for 36 hours.
Actor and mixed martial arts trainer Luca Franzese, posted the video after he was trapped with the body of his dead sister Teresa Franzese, who died of the coronavirus during self-quarantine in their Naples home, Saturday, March 7.
In the video posted the following day, grief-stricken Luca stated that he already made calls from institutions and has been waiting for answers since his sister's demise, however, nobody came forward to help and inform them on how to proceed.
To this day, Italy has confirmed 827 deaths and has identified more than 12,000 cases as their 60 million inhabitants are still under lockdown.
According to Al Jazeera, Luca's 47-year-old sister had a form of epilepsy but was in good health otherwise. However, before she died she developed symptoms of the coronavirus. But it was only after her death that it was discovered due to the insistence of his brother to have her dead body tested.
Luca also said that health officials have refused to test him for the virus ahead since he said that they first needed to know if his sister was indeed a COVID-19 carrier. Furthermore, he expressed that he felt that Italy has abandoned them because if he had not decided to self-isolate he would have been allowed to go anywhere and spread the virus.
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Fox News reported that the family also had trouble finding a funeral home for Teresa which resulted in her staying on the bed she died in. Thanks to the video that Luca uploaded which got more than 10 million views that a politician intervened and found a funeral home to offer the burial for Teresa.
According to a worker at the Aprea Funeral Home, Pasquale Pernice, the situation inside Luca's home was surreal as they entered it in hazmat suits and complete personal protective equipment. He also stated that there were no family members that were present during the burial.
According to a member of the Regional Health Commission for Campania, Francesco Emilio Borrelli, Teresa's death was the first case in Italy where a coronavirus patient dies at home. Hence, there was a large confusion on how to proceed.
Europe is the new COVID-19 epicenter
On March 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced that the COVID-19 pandemic's epicenter is now in Europe. This is due to the sudden and continued increase in cases in European countries, most especially Italy. In response to this, the WHO has launched fundraising efforts that are designed to ask for donations from businesses and individuals in order to help the efforts in controlling the spread of the disease.
According to Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of WHO, the global death rate of the coronavirus has reached the 5,000-mark, most of these are still from China. however, except for China, Europe is already reporting more cases and deaths than the rest of the countries combined.
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