Corona wave in Bergamo: It was probably not the football game

On February 19, 2020, a football game took place that many blamed for the deadly corona wave in Bergamo. Two years later, researchers believe in another reason – and the city has made a fresh start.

Matteo Scaccabarozzi knows the city and the people here better than few others. He was born in Bergamo, went to school here and, as a city guide, not only explains the history but also the soul of Bergamo. The current atmosphere in the city, says Scaccabarozzi, can best be summed up in two words: “Mola mia.” That is an expression in the dialect of Bergamo. “It means: don’t give up, don’t give up, keep going.”

An attitude, says Scaccabarozzi, that is almost part of the DNA of the people in Bergamo. “You work, because you only get ahead with work – that’s what the Bergamaschi are known for in Italy. Work and don’t whine, don’t complain about difficulties.”

Bergamo is currently rolling up its sleeves after a dark period in which the city had become a negative symbol. In the weeks of the first corona wave in 2020, no region in Europe was harder hit. 6,000 people died in the province of Bergamo within two months, based on the number of inhabitants, this was the highest death rate in the world at the time.

A football game in focus?

Looking for the reasons why Bergamo was so badly affected, many blamed a football game at the time. Local club Atalanta Bergamo played Valencia in the Champions League two years ago exactly two years ago, on February 19, 2020 – at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. Diego Valleri, a sworn Atalanta supporter, was there and remembers moving to Milan from Bergamo with tens of thousands of other fans:

It then continued in the stadium, says Valleri. They celebrated, cheered, hugged each other. covid? That still seemed to be a problem in distant China at the time. “There was no fear that what we heard from China was really that dangerous and could already be here,” he says. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have gone to the stadium.”

International integration of the region

Shortly afterwards it was clear: The corona virus had arrived in Europe, and the first red zones were set up in northern Italy. The football game was considered one of the reasons for the dramatically high number of infections in Bergamo and the surrounding area.

Now, two years later, Andrea Crisanti is doing away with this story, which has survived beyond Italy’s borders to this day. The microbiologist is working on a report for the public prosecutor in Bergamo. Crisanti’s number simulations show that there were massive Covid cases in Bergamo and the surrounding area four days before the football game. “On February 15, around 3,000 people were already infected here.” Crisanti thus refutes the thesis that the football game was the decisive source of infection for Bergamo. The game, says Crisanti, is just a side note in the infection process:

The decisive reason, according to the status of the review, was more the international integration of the dynamic economic region of Bergamo. That is why the virus arrived here earlier than in other regions of Italy. Later, when the first Covid cases became known, the Conte government in Rome and the regional government in Milan hesitated to declare the province of Bergamo, one of the heart chambers of the Italian economy, a red zone.

Successful reboot

While the exact responsibilities are now being clarified in court, the city is already in the process of restarting. “What we would like is that we are not just the city that has been hardest hit by the Covid pandemic for a long time,” says Mayor Giorgio Gori. “Now we also want to be the city that reacts best after the crisis. The city that is a role model in getting up after everything it’s been through.”

What Bergamo has already achieved: After the drama in spring 2020, the city came through the further waves of Covid very well. “Such a difficult time has meant that we Bergamaschi are more aware than others of what this virus means, what it can do,” says Gori – “and therefore how necessary it is to follow rules, for example wearing masks and distance As a result, Bergamo was always at the bottom of the infection table in the third and fourth waves.”

After the end of the complete lockdown in spring, the operations in Bergamo started again in summer 2020 – with appropriate precautionary measures. And they did it in accordance with the work ethic and diligence of the Bergamaschi, which is legendary in Italy:

This consists primarily of medium-sized companies, which are Europe-wide leaders in many areas – for example in mechanical engineering.

Italy’s Capital of Culture 2023

But not only economically Bergamo is getting back up after the crisis. Together with neighboring Brescia, which was also hit hard by the Covid pandemic, Bergamo will be Italy’s cultural capital in 2023. A decision by the government in Rome, which is a great opportunity to overcome the consequences of the Covid drama, says Osvaldo Ranica from the board of the organizing committee for the Capital of Culture 2023: “Today we still have wounds in the city’s social fabric. They will only deal with the Closing time. In order to strengthen the social life of the city, culture is central. Culture is important for the quality of our lives.”

As part of the Capital of Culture year, Bergamo wants to revive culture for the locals on the one hand. With district readings, a new cultural center in an old industrial building. At the same time, an international audience is to be lured to Bergamo with theater and music performances, including in the Teatro Donizetti, which has been renovated by then. A place that, with its old town walls, is also part of the Unesco World Heritage Site.

“To revitalize the cultural aspect of Bergamo – the Capital of Culture year is a great opportunity after the two difficult years that lie behind us,” says Capital of Culture co-organizer Ranica. “I believe that this event will give the city a remarkable additional momentum.”