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From Our Own Correspondent

Return to Lombardy

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Italy's northern region of Lombardy became the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in February. Death rates soared. In Bergamo, six thousand people died in March. Mark Lowen returns to Lombardy to meet some of the bereaved and finds that politicians are passing the buck as to why cities locked down too late. Colombia had a thriving economy before the pandemic, and has been host to almost two million Venezuelans who fled their country due to its economic and political crisis. Now, their dreams of a better life have turned to despair. Lockdown stops them earning a living, landlords evict them, and they're reduced to begging for food to survive, as Mat Charles has been finding. Travel restrictions are gradually being lifted across the world, allowing more people to take airplanes again. But what is it actually like to fly now? Jean Mackenzie reports for the BBC from Brussels, and has been on numerous flights to cover the pandemic. She found the usual bustle of check-in queues, airport cafes, and departure lounges has given way to something more dystopian. The United States has been going through tempestuous times, and New York City in particular. The city suffered around 22,000 Covid-19 deaths. And the fall-out of the killing of George Floyd led to street protests against police racism. Amidst the deaths, there was also new life. Nick Bryant’s daughter Honor was born. Becoming a father again at such a turbulent time prompted him to him to re-evaluate his relationship with this adopted homeland, and to write a letter to Honor. Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Arlene Gregorius

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:05.0

Good morning.

0:06.4

Today to South America, which is still grappling

0:09.3

with a high rate of pandemic infections,

0:12.2

and in Colombia there are extra problems for those who fled

0:15.4

across the border from Venezuela's chaos. The time of year when you're

0:20.0

anticipating that flight to holiday happiness. Our correspondent has been

0:25.8

experiencing the realities of today's airports. It's not exactly enticing.

0:31.3

And a new life, a baby girl born in America, leading to her father, our

0:37.4

correspondent to reflect on a country he loves, but perhaps a country with an uncertain future.

0:45.6

First to Italy, and many weeks ago the focus of world attention, as the infection rate

0:51.1

climbed and the ambulance sirens echoed in ancient towns and hilltop

0:56.1

villages especially in the northern region of Lombardy. One town even earned the unwanted title as the Wuhan of the West.

1:05.0

As elsewhere, there are major efforts to find out what went wrong,

1:09.5

and Mark Lowen has been seeking the answer in Lombardy.

1:14.2

I don't know if you'll remember her.

1:16.9

You'll have heard so many stories of families ripped apart by the pandemic

1:21.7

that even you loyal listeners will feel they blend into each other.

1:26.6

But I told you about her on this program in March, a month after coronavirus first throttled

1:32.1

Italy when it seemed like the horror would never end.

1:36.0

Her name Miriam Kazali from the northern region of Lombardy.

1:40.6

When her mother, Giuseppeina, collapsed from the virus while on holiday in Genoa,

...

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