A scandal of falsification of Covid figures hits Sicily head-on. During the last five months, the contaminations have soared worryingly but no one has ever known. And for good reason, the alarming figures were deliberately tampered with by Sicilian health officials. “Let’s sort out the data” of the deaths over several days, said Ruggero Razza, responsible for health on the island, to Maria Letizia Di Liberti, herself responsible for transmitting the figures of the pandemic to Rome, according to telephone tapping cited by the daily Corriere della Sera.
Accused of having minimized the number of cases
The officials in question are accused of having minimized the number of cases or inflated the number of tests, and therefore of having transmitted falsified information to the Higher Institute of Health (ISS), responsible for advising the central government on the measures. public health. These data communicated to the ISS therefore probably skewed the decisions taken by Rome, which each week decides which regions are classified as yellow (moderate risk), orange (medium risk) and red (high risk), with the associated restrictions.
As a result, since November, the Italian island has managed to stay under government radar and escape the confinements that other regions were undergoing. Most of Italy is currently subject to severe restrictions to stem contagion as part of the third wave of Covid-19. The pandemic has so far killed more than 108,000 people in the country.
Three officials arrested
This investigation led to three arrests on Tuesday in Sicily. Ruggero Razza, meanwhile, has just resigned, continuing to deny any fault. “I would like to reaffirm that in Sicily, the epidemic has always been carefully monitored (…). We did not need to hide contagions or reduce the epidemiological impact, since precisely we have often anticipated the decisions of Rome and adopted tougher measures, “he said. The president of the Sicily region Nello Musumeci (right), of which Ruggero Razza is the political dolphin, would not, however, be involved.
The main Italian trade union confederation, the CGIL (left), on Tuesday asked in a statement for the sending by Rome of a commissioner to manage the health sector “because of the gravity of the situation (…) and for give certainties and answers to citizens “. “If we want to get out of the health crisis and revive the country and Sicily, then we need a maximum of rigor and transparency”, assures the union.
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