Italian actor and mixed martial arts trainer Luca Franzese was trapped in his house for more than 36 hours with the corpse of his sister, who had died of Coronavirus. “Italy has abandoned us,” said Franzese in a video, with his sister’s corpse visible in the background.
“This is a very strong video, please don’t show it to children and elderly people. I am forced in all my pain to fight this situation,” said Franzese in a Facebook video pleading for help from Italian authorities.
“I have my sister in bed, dead, I don’t know what to do,” he added. “I cannot give her the honor she deserves because the institutions have abandoned me. I contacted everyone, but nobody was able to give me an answer.”
“I’ve been waiting for the institutions to give me answers since last night. Nobody came forward,” said Franzese, who was reportedly unable to find a funeral home that would bury his sister, Teresa Franzese.
The Italian actor was reportedly trapped in the house for 36 with his sister, who tested positive for the coronavirus after her death on Saturday, reports Daily Mail.
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Franzese said that his sister suffered from a type of epilepsy, but that once she had shown symptoms of the Chinese virus earlier in the week. Health officials refused to test her for the coronavirus.
“I am making this video for the good of Italy, for the good of Naples,” said Franzese. “My sister died last night, probably because of the virus, and I’ve been waiting for answers since last night.”
The actor’s sister was tested for the coronavirus after she died, with the test results confirming that she had been infected, reports NY Post.
“Guys, we are ruined, Italy abandoned us,” said Franzese.
A local funeral home eventually collected Teresa’s body after her brother’s video went viral on social media.
In another video released on Wednesday, Franzese added that three more people in his family have tested positive for the coronavirus. “The nightmare goes on,” he said.
As the Wuhan virus proliferates throughout Italy, doctors working in the nation’s overwhelmed hospitals say they have been forced to ration healthcare services for older, sicker patients in order to prioritize younger patients who are more likely to be saved from the coronavirus.
On Thursday, new data released show that Italy’s death toll has now surpassed 1,000.
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