Elderly Italian couple die from Covid-19 just 2 hours apart

Rome, March 12 (IANS) After spending 60 years of their lives together, an elderly Italian couple succumbed to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) just two hours apart.

Severa Belotti, 82, and Luigi Carrara, 86, who lived in Albino in the northern Italian province of Bergamo, died on Tuesday, according to a report in the Daily Mail on Thursday.

The couple did not get much medical assistance in their last days which were spent in lockdown, their son claimed.

The couple were confined to their home for eight days, running a fever of 39 degrees celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit), according to their son, Luca Carrara.

While Luigi was taken to Bergamo hospital on Saturday, his wife Severa was admitted to the same facility on Sunday, Luca told local newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Luigi worked as a bricklayer before retirement and Severa was a housewife.

The elderly couple's son Luca told the newspaper that he was unable to see his parents before they died.

"They died alone, that's how this virus works," he was quoted as saying.

"Your loved ones are left alone and you can't even say goodbye, hug them, try to give them some comfort. (You can't even tell them) a good lie like 'everything will be fine'," he was quoted as saying.

Their death highlighted how some coronavirus victims might embrace death without having their near and dear ones around.

Coronavirus cases in Italy surpassed 12,000, while the death toll reached 827.

According to a report in The Guardian on Thursday, Italy's government has ordered all shops, bars and restaurants across the country to close.