![Trees planted in the northern Bergamo'Remembrance Forest' created to commemorate the Corona 19 victims on the 18th (local time). [EPA=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/yonhap/2021/03/19/image_readtop_2021_261468_0_040111.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
Trees planted in the northern Bergamo’Remembrance Forest’ created to commemorate the Corona 19 victims on the 18th (local time). [EPA=연합뉴스] ▶ Click here for a larger view
The first national memorial event was held in Italy on the 18th (local time) to commemorate the deaths of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).
According to ANSA news sources, the Italian government held a memorial service in Bergamo, northern Lombardy, with key figures such as Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Mayor Giorgio Gori Bergamo attended.
Prime Minister Draghi visited a cemetery in the city where the Corona 19 dead were buried and made a wreath.
He emphasized the role of the state in protecting the safety and life of the people in the memorial address, and promised that the people would no longer be left without adequate protection from the state.
He also stressed that Italy will overcome this pain and rise again, and that Bergamo will be a valuable example of this.
![Prime Minister Mario Draghi makes a wreath at the Bergamo Cemetery where the Corona 19 dead were buried on the 18th (local time). [로이터=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/yonhap/2021/03/19/image_readmed_2021_261468_1_040111.jpg?w=560&ssl=1)
Prime Minister Mario Draghi makes a wreath at the Bergamo Cemetery where the Corona 19 dead were buried on the 18th (local time). [로이터=연합뉴스]▶ Click here for a larger view
Bergamo, near Milan, was one of the regions that made the biggest sacrifices in Italy during the first corona19 epidemic in the first half of last year.
Bergamo, with a population of 120,000, killed 670 people, including 6,000 people in the surrounding area. However, other than the official count, the actual death toll is estimated to be much larger.
In March last year, when the spread of the virus was at its peak, about 10 pages of local newspapers were filled with obituaries.
The photos of military vehicles moving in line at the time were deeply imprinted in the minds of people around the world as an image symbolizing the tragedy brought about by the virus outbreak.
The Italian government designated March 18, when a military vehicle first transported the body from Bergamo, as a national memorial day for the victims of Corona 19, and this time the first event was held.
![A military vehicle mobilized in Bergamo in northern Italy in March last year to move the body to another region. [ANSA 통신]](https://i0.wp.com/file.mk.co.kr/meet/yonhap/2021/03/19/image_readbot_2021_261468_2_040111.jpg?w=500&ssl=1)
A military vehicle mobilized in Bergamo in northern Italy in March last year to move the body to another region. [ANSA 통신] On this day, early steps were put on public buildings throughout Italy, and a one-minute silence was held along with the memorial siren.
Pope Francis also joined the memorial atmosphere through his official Twitter account, saying, “Let’s pray together for more than 100,000 Italian Corona 19 victims.”
“Too many people have died from the virus, and too many have dedicated their lives to cure sick people,” the Pope said.
Italy, which went through a second epidemic in October to November last year due to the aftermath of loose quarantine during the summer vacation season, recently faced a third epidemic due to the rapid spread of a mutant virus from the UK.
As a result of the impact, regions covering half of the country, including Lombardy, have been designated as high-risk regions (red zones) and have been blocked from the 15th.
As of the 18th, the number of new confirmed cases of Corona 19 in Italy per day is 24,000,935 and the number of deaths is 423. Cumulatively, the number was 3.36,711 and 103,855, respectively.
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