| Description : The COVID 19 pandemic, which has been unfolding since
December 2019, started in China and affected Italy first in Europe and particularly dramatically. The health systems
of several northern Italian provinces were so overloaded that many patients could not be treated or could not be treated
adequately and clinicians were forced to triage. On the night of the 18th-19th of March 2020, a convoy of
military trucks drove through Bergamo to transport coffins containing dead bodies to crematoria in the surrounding area.
The morgues of the city's cemeteries and funeral homes were overcrowded; coffins had to be stored in churches. The coin
dedicated to the health professions shows a man and a woman in hospital gowns, wearing mouth‐nose protection and
holding a clipboard and stethoscope respectively ‐ representing all the doctors and nurses fighting the pandemic and
struggling tirelessly to recover their patients. The reason for the issue is "GRAZIE" (thank you) at the top, followed by
a ♥. Below this, the ligature "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic) is shown as the country abbreviation. A
Greek cross symbolising the Red Cross is shown on the left as ✚. At the bottom are the year of issue "2021", on the
right the "R" as the logo of the Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome and on the bottom
left the initials "C.M." of the coin designer Claudia Momoni mentioned. |
