Mads Frost (Danish School of Media and Journalism)
Still in Mourning
Gold
International Picture Story
Their eyes are empty. Everybody knows someone who died. The graves at the cemetery have been covered in a rush. There’s a before and after the pandemic in Bergamo and Nembro, two cities that are among the hardest hit by COVID-19 in Italy. A restaurant owner has lost 80% of his turnover. A young funeral director had to pick up the deceased at the hospital morgue. The bodies, placed in black plastic bags, were everywhere, on shelves and on the floor. Many people have lost, and they meet at public memorial services for the dead that they didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to. The citizens of Bergamo and Nembro are still in mourning.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Fabrizio Assoleni is a patient at the hospital in Bergamo, L’Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII. He’s in a unit for patients who have been tested positive for covid-19, but who are hospitalized for other reasons.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Stefano Canziani owns a restaurant in Bergamo’s old town, Citta Alta. His restaurant was closed on the 8th of March and opened again on the 21st of May, but there’re still almost no customers. He has lost 80 pct. of his turnover.
He also lost to uncles during then pandemic: “They were cremated in Milano and Cremona. We’ve got no idea how they died or how they’ve been transported - in a hearse or in a military truck… We can only hope that they are the ones who have been returned to us. It as a question of trust,” he says.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Cristiano Morosini is the youngest funeral director in the company La Bergamasca. Therefore he was assigned to collect the dead at the morgue and bring them to the cemetery during the pandemic. “When I entered the morgue at the hospital, black plastic bags with dead bodies were lying everywhere. On shelves and on the floor, one on top of the other,” he says.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
A public commemoration has been organized in a local sports ground in Nembro, one of the hardest hit towns in Italy. The field is marked with white lines and chairs are placed with space between them in order to keep a safe distance.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Only the funeral director, the priest and a couple of cemetery workers are present in a video Cristiano Morosini recorded at a funeral and keeps on his phone. He recorded the video so that the relatives could see the ceremoni.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Gabriella Alberghetti visits her mother’s grave. “She didn’t die from covid, but she died at an unfortunate time. Had there been enough space at the hospital, she might have lived longer. We couldn’t be a part of her funeral. Everything was shot down,” she says.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Vittoria and Martha work as nurses at the hospital in Bergamo. They work in a unit for patients who have been tested positive for covid-19, but who are hospitalized for other reasons. This is why they need facemaks and visors to work.
Story: Still in Mourning
Still in mourning
Only 1.000 people could participate in Nembro’s public commemoration. So far from all relatives of the deceased were able to come. Therefore some people stood outside the sports ground to take part in the commemoration.