Facebook group demanding justice for Italy's coronavirus victims sees tens of thousands of supporters

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Amy Kellogg reports from Florence, Italy.

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Relatives of coronavirus victims in Italy are demanding justice for what they believe was the government’s inadequate response to the pandemic that has killed more than 25,000 people in the country.

Luca Fusco, whose father died of COVID-19 in Bergamo -- the epicenter of the outbreak in Italy -- has created a Facebook page, “NOI Denuncermo,” to gather testimony for prosecutors.

NOI Denuncermo, which translates to “We Will Report,” has more than 46,500 members with nearly 4,000 likes.

A truck equipped with a snow cannon fed with diluted hydrogen peroxide sanitizes the streets in Selva di Val Gardena, Northern Italy, Thursday, April 23, 2020.  (Leitner via AP)

“We do not want financial compensation,” Fusco said. “Our main objective is to have justice from a criminal perspective, so if someone is responsible, we want them to be charged and brought to trial.”

Fusco said the page is meant to take aim at Italy’s provincial leaders and not healthcare workers, whom he described as being as much the victims as those who died.

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“But as the health care system in Italy is decentralized, it would have been those who lead the regions who set the guidelines for hospitals,” he said. “So if a magistrate decides there is a case, then the responsibility would be at the regional level.”

With resentment growing in Italy, multiple investigations are underway into how the virus was able to spread so rapidly throughout the country, the Guardian reported. Multiple lawsuits have also been filed on behalf of at least 144 medical workers who have died due to lack of protective equipment in the early stages of the outbreak.

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As of Thursday, Italy has confirmed at least 189,973 coronavirus cases with 25,549 deaths, according to the latest Johns Hopkins University figures.