An Italian actor has posted a series of videos to his Facebook page detailing how he had been forced to keep his dead sister's body in the house for more than 24 hours because he received no help from authorities, The Washington Post reports.
Luca Franzese, who is also a mixed martial arts trainer, says he was forced to be quarantined with the body of his sister, Teresa, after she died at home in Naples on Saturday. Franzese added that she had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Per the most recent situation report from the World Health Organization, there has been 132,758 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, resulting in 4,955 deaths.
Italy has become one of the worst-hit areas, with 15,113 cases reported in the country, and a startling 1,016 deaths.
Per Sky News, Franzese posted a series of graphic videos to his Facebook page, in which he reveals: "My sister died yesterday, probably because of the virus, and I've been waiting for answers since last night.
"Guys, we are ruined. Italy has abandoned us."
Further translations from the New York Post state that the grief-stricken Franzese says: "I am waiting for the institutions to give me answers since last night. Nobody came forward.
"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 - I have my sister here in bed, dead. I don’t know what to do, I can’t honor her as she deserves because institutions abandoned me.
"I contacted everyone, but nobody was able to give me an answer."
The video, which has since been viewed more than 9.8 million times, was captioned: '"#HELP SHARE MAKE IT VIRAL FOR THE GOOD OF ITALY"
VT will not be embedding the video. However, as of this writing, it is still live on Franzese's Facebook page.Since being posted to the social media site Sunday, the video has been shared 122,000+ times and received more than 17,000 comments.
Al Jazeera reports that Teresa suffered from a form of epilepsy but was otherwise in good health. She had developed symptoms of coronavirus just a few days before she died.
The publication also reports that Franzese - who has appeared in television mob series Gomorra - "forced" medical officials to test his sister's body for the virus, which later came back positive. He says in another video:
"I had to force them to come and do the test. I've had to put myself in self-isolation. I might have the virus. To keep my sister alive, I tried to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation and no one cared, no one is calling me. We are ruined, Italy has abandoned us. But we must give each other strength."
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Speaking about the incident, Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a local councilor who also serves as a member of Campania’s Regional Health Commission, told Al Jazeera: "It was the first case in Italy in which a person with the virus dies at home, so there was some confusion on what to do.
"The family [exemplifies] altruism, they are doing everything they can to protect their community, and the community is staying close to them by bringing food.
"Now the big problem is that they have been closed in there for four days, and no one is taking away their trash. It's getting unhygienic and we don't know what to do about it. Someone needs to help them."
Teresa's body was later collected by a local funeral home. An employee of the Aprea Funeral Home, Pasquale Pernice, told Al Jazeera: "It was surreal. We used masks, sterile shoes, hazmat suits, glasses, and gloves. Luca and another relative were there, but other family members were all in another room."
Teresa's body was then taken to a nearby cemetery and buried with no family members present.
As reported by The Washington Post, Efi Campania, the association representing funeral home directors in the area, told local reporters that the delay in collecting Teresa's body was a result of administrative hurdles.
The group said in a statement: "Our heartfelt and sincere condolences to the Franzese family.