Couple married for over 60 years die hours apart from coronavirus

A couple who were married for more than 60 years died just hours apart after contracting coronavirus.

Severa Belotti, 82, and Luigi Carrara, 86, lived in the town of Albino, near Bergamo, Northern Italy, and reportedly spent eight days locked at home with a fever of 39 degrees.

They were eventually taken to Bergamo Hospital last weekend but their son Luca Carrara told local newspaper Corriere della Sera that they “died alone” in the facility and he was unable to say a final goodbye.

He said: “Your loved ones stay alone and you cannot say bye, hug them, trying to give some comfort.”

Luca also wrote a touching message on social media which read: “Hi mum and dad, this bad virus made you leave the same day, will you keep bickering up there too? I think so, but then everything ended up in a hug.”

Luca revealed that he was not allowed to see his parents’ bodies after their death because they were taken to the cemetery and will be cremated within days. This, he said, is because “there are too many dead people”.

Luca, who is currently in quarantine with his family, complained about the Bergamo Hospital saying “they (the staff) do not know where to put patients, probably because doctors are doing a selection and letting the elderly people leave”.

He said his father had no pre-existing medical conditions, adding, “my father did not know what going to the doctor was.”

He continued: “The truth is that this is not the common flu, it is a terrible flu and if you end up in hospital, you leave dead or alive”.