Italy Marks 1st Medical Workers Day On Saturday To Honor Victims Of Fight Against COVID-19

Italy on Saturday marked for the first time the National Day of Medical Workers and Volunteers exactly one year after the country's first known native case of COVID-19 was reported to commemorate numerous medical workers who lost their lives in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2021) Italy on Saturday marked for the first time the National Day of Medical Workers and Volunteers exactly one year after the country's first known native case of COVID-19 was reported to commemorate numerous medical workers who lost their lives in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Last November, the Italian parliament decided to annually mark February 20 as a national day to honor the memory of doctors, nurses and other medical staff, who sacrificed their lives in the fight against COVID-19.

On this occasion, Italian President Sergio Mattarella sent a letter to President of the Italian Federation of Medical Associations (FNOMCeO) Filippo Anelli, in which he expressed "the country's deep gratitude to all those who, with professionalism and dedication, have been and are still on the frontline," fighting the pandemic.

Pope Francis also addressed medical workers, noting that doctors perceive their profession as a mission and often act as heroes, endangering their own lives to save other people.

The website of the FNOMCeO, meanwhile, has published a list of all Italian doctors who have died due to COVID-19, with the first such fatality reported on March 11, 2020. To date, the number of Italian doctors who died after being infected with the coronavirus stands at 326 people, excluding other medical staff.