Season 2020 Episode 11 | 54m 22s | Video has closed captioning.
FRONTLINE goes inside a hospital battling the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy, as doctors are forced to make life and death decisions. An intimate, exclusive story that follows one besieged ER doctor, her staff and the patients suffering from COVID-19, from the darkest days to the signs of hope.
Aired: 05/19/20
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: At the height of the pandemic in Italy... >> Italy has reported the highest one-day death toll from coronavirus.
>> NARRATOR: Inside one hospital, with the doctors and nurses... >> WOMAN: >> NARRATOR: Risking their own lives... >> No, no, no, no... >> NARRATOR: ...to save others.
>> (clapping, speaking Italian) >> NARRATOR: Now, "Inside Italy's Covid War."
♪ ♪ >> FRANCESCA MANGIATORDI (speaking Italian): (sighs) (exhales) (machine hissing) (medical workers speaking Italian) >> MANGIATORDI: (hangs up phone) >> (bleep) (sighs) (machine hissing) >> ALDO: >> MANGIATORDI: (hangs up phone) >> WOMAN: >> MANGIATORDI: >> CRISTEL: ♪ ♪ (voice on scanner giving instructions) (scanner voice instructing) ♪ ♪ (nurse speaking Italian) >> CRISTEL: >> NURSE: >> Mm.
>> NURSE: >> CRISTEL: >> NURSE: >> CHIARA (on phone): >> CRISTEL: (clears throat) >> NURSE and CRISTEL: >> CRISTEL: (coughing) ♪ ♪ (clicks tongue) ♪ ♪ >> MANGIATORDI (murmuring): (murmuring) ♪ ♪ >> CRISTEL: >> Mm-hmm.
>> (murmuring) >> WOMAN: >> CRISTEL: (woman responds) >> CRISTEL: (crying): (machine hissing) >> MANGIATORDI: (machine hissing) ♪ ♪ >> Let's bring you some breaking news from Italy.
Coronavirus deaths have risen by 683 in 24 hours, lifting the total death toll to 7,503.
>> We're now into day nine of the lockdown.
The authorities believe that the next week or so is very crucial.
The peak infection rate still has not been reached yet.
>> Today, Italy has passed a deadly milestone: more people dead from the virus than in China.
>> Buona sera.
(water running) >> MANGIATORDI: >> KIDS: >> MANGIATORDI: >> KIDS: >> MARIA TERESA: >> Oh, virus!
>> MICHELE and MANGIATORDI: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MANGIATORDI and MICHELE: >> MICHELE: >> MANGIATORDI: (all exclaiming) >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ (devices beeping and hissing) >> MANGIATORDI: >> CANNAVO: >> MANGIATORDI: >> CANNAVO: >> MANGIATORDI: >> CANNAVO: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MANGIATORDI'S MOTHER: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MANGIATORDI'S MOTHER: (mother speaking softly) >> MANGIATORDI: >> MOTHER: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MOTHER: ♪ ♪ >> MANGIATORDI: (mother laughs on phone) >> MANGIATORDI and MOTHER: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MOTHER: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MOTHER: >> MANGIATORDI: Okay, ciao, ciao, Mama, ciao.
>> Ciao.
(phone chirps off) >> MANGIATORDI (chuckling): >> There are now more than 525,000 cases globally.
The pandemic has killed more than 23,000.
I can't quite believe we're seeing these numbers, 919 people have lost their lives in the last 24 hours in Italy.
That is by far the biggest loss of life in a 24-hour period not just in Italy, but globally.
It's impossible to imagine what that feels like for the people working on the frontline, the doctors and nurses.
We know now that 14 percent of the positive cases are frontline healthcare workers, as they are well into their third week in lockdown with no end date in sight.
>> MANGIATORDI: >> WOMAN: >> MANGIATORDI: >> WOMAN: >> MANGIATORDI: >> WOMAN: >> MANGIATORDI: (machines hissing) >> ALDO: >> Si, si... >> ALDO: >> MANGIATORDI: >> LAURA BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: (laughing) >> BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ >> BOCCHI: >> 61 doctors have now died from COVID-19, along with 11,500 citizens in just five-and-a-half weeks.
The head of Italy's emergency response says the virus may now be at its peak, but there's no respite yet for the country's healthcare.
And the head of the U.N. says the pandemic is the worst global crisis since World War II.
>> We are slowly moving in the right direction, but we need to speed up and we need to do much more if we want to defeat the virus and if we want to support the people in this.
This is not a financial crisis.
This is a human crisis.
(birds chirping) (picking out notes) >> Mmm.
Mmm.
>> ALDO (on phone): >> MANGIATORDI: >> ALDO and MANGIATORDI: >> MANGIATORDI: (bleep) >> ALDO: >> MANGIATORDI: >> ALDO: (bleep) >> MANGIATORDI: Ciao, ciao.
>> MICHELE: >> MANGIATORDI (laughs): (chuckles) Allora... >> DAMIANO: >> MARIA TERESA: >> DAMIANO: >> MARIA TERESA: (crying): (woman singing in distance) (singing) (woman continues singing) >> CRISTINA PILATI: >> WOMAN: >> PILATI (sighs): (machine beeps) >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ >> BOCCHI: (door creaks) (door creaks) (handle creaks, door latches) >> BOY: >> BOCCHI: >> BOY: >> BOCCHI: >> BOY: >> BOCCHI and BOY: >> BOCCHI: >> BOY: >> BOCCHI: >> BOCCHI and BOY: >> BOCCHI: >> MAN: >> BOCCHI: >> BOY: >> MAN: >> BOY: >> BOCCHI (on phone): >> BOY: >> BOCCHI and BOY: >> MAN: >> BOCCHI: >> MAN: >> BOY: >> MAN and BOY: >> BOCCHI (on phone): >> MAN and BOY: ♪ ♪ (boy giggles) ♪ ♪ (phone ringing) >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI: (bleep) >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI (tearfully): (bleep) (bleep) >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: (Bocchi sighs) >> MANGIATORDI: >> BOCCHI: >> MANGIATORDI: (chuckles) (phone chirps off) ♪ ♪ (birds chirping) (machine beeps) >> MANGIATORDI: >> NURSE: Okay, bravissimo.
>> WOMAN: >> PILATI: ♪ ♪ >> MAN: >> MATTIA'S MOTHER (on phone): >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: (Mattia responds) >> MOTHER: (nurses laughing) >> MAN: >> MOTHER: >> MAN: >> MOTHER: >> MAN: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MAN: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> WOMAN: (both blow kisses) >> MATTIA and MOTHER: >> MOTHER: >> MATTIA: >> MOTHER: ♪ ♪ >> WOMAN: >> MONICA: >> PAOLO: >> MONICA: >> PAOLO: >> MONICA: >> PILATI: >> MATTIA: ♪ ♪ >> The city of Cremona at the heart of the country's coronavirus crisis: another 651 deaths nationwide over the past 24 hours.
Terrible figures, yet better than the previous 24-hour period, and, according to the authorities, offering a glimmer of hope for the future.
>> It's the lowest death toll in a week.
It does confirm the general declining trend.
Two weeks ago, the rates of new infection were some three or four times the figure that it is right now.
>> MANGIATORDI (in French): (in Italian): (man humming) >> MANGIATORDI: (hangs up phone) >> MAN and MANGIATORDI: (bleep) (all laughing) >> MANGIATORDI: (laughing) >> MANGIATORDI: (man sighs) >> MANGIATORDI: (exclaiming) (all talking in background) >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ >> WOMAN: >> MANGIATORDI: Angela!
(machines hissing) >> MAN: >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ >> After more than a month of strict lockdown measures, the country is slowly reopening.
>> Italy will allow a limited number of shops to open Tuesday.
The World Health Organization says there is still a risk.
>> Now is the time for vigilance, now is the time to double down, now is the time to be very, very careful.
>> The W.H.O.
will release guidelines Tuesday for countries considering easing lockdowns, saying the virus spreads too quickly and has proven to be deadly not to have some protections in place.
>> MANGIATORDI: >> MARIA TERESA: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MICHELE: >> MANGIATORDI: >> DAMIANO and MICHELE: (Damiano exhales) >> DAMIANO: >> MARIA TERESA: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MICHELE: >> MANGIATORDI: >> DAMIANO: >> MANGIATORDI: (bleep) >> MICHELE: >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ (machines hissing) >> WOMAN: >> MATTIA: >> WOMAN: >> MATTIA: >> MANGIATORDI: >> WOMAN: >> NURSE: >> MATTIA: >> MANGIATORDI: >> MATTIA: >> ENZO: (clears throat) >> MATTIA: >> Si.
>> MATTIA: ♪ ♪ >> Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced his long-awaited timetable for getting the country back to normal after seven weeks in lockdown.
From May the 4th, public parks and gardens will reopen and people will be able to visit relatives who live in the same region.
Phase two, he says, is called "living with the virus," keeping track of fresh cases to prevent the pandemic raising its head once again.
Then the third phase will be an eventual return to normal social and work life.
>> (gasping happily) >> ELENA: >> MANGIATORDI: >> WOMAN: (woman crying) >> MANGIATORDI: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Go to pbs.org/frontline for an interview with director Sasha Achilli about making this film.
>> The stories I've done have always been elsewhere, I've never actually made a story about my country.
>> And learn more about treating patients in the Cremona hospital.
Then listen to our podcast, "The Frontline Dispatch."
>> "Covering Coronavirus" is a special series of conversations with our journalists in the field.
>> Connect to the "Frontline" community on Facebook and Twitter, and watch anytime on the PBS Video App, or pbs.org/frontline.
>> For more on this and other "Frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.
♪ ♪ "Frontline's" "Inside Italy's Covid War" is available on Amazon Prime Video.
♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
Transparency Project
To produce our documentary "Putin and the Presidents," the FRONTLINE team interviewed current and former U.S. government officials and policy experts, as well as American and Russian journalists who have covered U.S.-Russia relations for decades. These interviews can be explored in video and text at the link.
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