Hospital chief invites Covid-sceptics for tour of ICU

Doctor says it would be a pleasure to guide sceptics into ‘what is a circle of Dante’s hell for us, but an exaggeration for you’

Service sector employees gather at Popolo Square during a demonstration to protest against measures taken by the government against coronavirus (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The head of an Italian hospital has invited Covid-sceptics who don’t believe that people are dying from the virus, or that the country’s hospitals are overwhelmed, to take a tour in his hospital’s ICUs.

“You don’t believe it? Well, TourinGrio organises guided tour in ICUs and Covid wards starting tomorrow,” Michele Grio, the head of resuscitation at the hospital of Rivoli, near the north-western city of Turin, joked on Facebook.

“It will be a pleasure to be your personal guide and lead you on a very pleasant journey into what is a round of Dante’s hell for us, but an exaggeration for you,” he said, mocking Covid-sceptics who think some footage of overwhelmed hospitals is staged.

Grio said he and his staff normally wear overalls, masks and shoe protection, but joked that the same PPE wouldn’t be available for Covid-sceptics.

The provocative post echoes the frustration among Italy’s health workers. The country recorded 29,907 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 208 deaths on Sunday, and the number of new confirmed cases appears to double every eight days – a sign that the virus is spreading fast.

Doctors say that the epidemic is out of control in the worst-affected areas, which include the cities of Naples and Milan, Lombardy.

“Milan’s hospitals are on the brink of collapsing, there is no more room for patients. If we go on like this, people risk dying at home or in ambulances, like in the spring,” Maurizio Viecca, head of Cardiology of Milan’s Sacco hospital, told the Corriere della Sera.

In the spring, Lombardy was the first coronavirus outbreak area outside of China. and footage of overwhelmed doctors and army trucks carrying coffins away from the overwhelmed cemetery of Bergamo warned the world of the dangers of Covid-19.

But protests against current restrictions, which include an 11pm curfew and forcing bars and restaurants to close at 6pm, have erupted and often taken a violent turn across Italy, and the government has refrained from ushering in new measures.

Protesters clashed with police again in Rome, Florence and other cities on Friday and Saturday 30-31 October, throwing smoke bombs, empty glass bottles and Molotov cocktails.

Local media report that neofascist groups and ultras, as violent football fans are known locally, may be responsible for the violence.

Italy is expected to usher in new restrictions in the next few days.

“Don’t ask us advice if you get sick,” Dr Grio wrote on Facebook. “Don’t be scared, it’s all bulls**t right?”