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BERGAMO, Italy — Ita-
ly’s historic mountain in-
fantry, the Alpini, got ahold
of pavilion B at the conven-
tion center in Bergamoin
late March under emergency
conditions brought by the
coronavirus.
At that time, pavilion B
amounted to nothing more
than 6,500 square meters of
empty hall space, pavement
and ceiling ducts.
By April, members of the
infantry wearing the Alpini’s
pointed green hat with black
feathers were on their hands
and knees, scrubbing the
new wooden floors of a
COVID-19 field hospital
complete with intensive-
care units, physician chang-
ing rooms, oxygen hookups
and test labs. The local
chapter of the National
Alpini Assn. — which in-
cludes current, former and
reserve infantry members —
had led a 300-volunteer ef-
fort to complete the 142-bed
hospital in nine days instead
of the usual 60 to 90, organ-
izers said.
“We are the people who
don’t give up,” they sang
while they worked.
Starting Monday, co-
ronavirus patients will ei-
ther be transported to the
field hospital from their ex-
isting hospital, admitted di-
rectly from their homes or
some combination of both,
depending on the health-
care needs at the time, hos-
pital officials said.
Italy has been among the
countries hardest hit by the
pandemic, with more than
128,000 confirmed co-
ronavirus cases and the
highest number of deaths —
about 15,900 people as of
Sunday. The country’s 60
million residents have been
on lockdown since early
March, when the govern-
ment ordered most busi-
nesses to close and said resi-
dents could leave their
homes only for such reasons
as work, medical issues and
grocery shopping.
Bergamo, nestled in the
foothills of the Alps in the
country’s Lombardy region,
has about 120,000 residents.
The city has seen more than

9,600 confirmed cases of the

coronavirus and more than

2,000 attributed deaths,

though officials worry the

actual number could be

much higher.

The military has been

transporting coffins to cities

as far away as Florence —

more than 150 miles to the

south — to be cremated, be-

cause the local funeral serv-

ices have been so over-

whelmed. Many patients are

dying alone, because visitors

are banned from co-

ronavirus wards to prevent

the disease from spreading.

“The atmosphere in Ber-

gamo has been one of sad-

ness at not being able to say

goodbye and not being able

to do anything to help,” said

Sergio Rizzini, an Alpini re-

servist who took over as gen-

eral manager of the National

Alpini Assn.’s field hospital

division in 2015. “There’s a

sense of powerlessness that

we’re slowly overcoming;

this project is helping.”

When the Alpini put out a

request for 12 additional

builders to join their group

of about 100 volunteers,

more than 200 responded to

donate their time and mate-

rials. When they started rais-

ing money in the third week

of March, local families and

businesses donated nearly

the entire project budget of 3

million eurosworth (about

$3.2 million) of funds and

equipment. When the region

of Lombardy delayed build-

ing authorization because of

personnel concerns, more

than 115,000 people signed a

petition demanding the

work begin.

Italy’s heathcare system

is managed at the regional

level, which means the re-

gional government needed

to approve the field hospital

project. In mid-March, offi-

cials from Lombardy hesi-

tated to grant permission

because they said they wer-

en’t sure they would have

enough doctors to staff the

facility once it was com-

pleted. The region appar-

ently wanted to divert all of

its resources to a new hospi-

tal under construction in

nearby Milan, even though

Milan had only half as many

cases.

After the petition was

launched, though, officials

soon agreed to let the work

begin. Over the next nine

days, volunteers wearing

leather bracelets engraved

with the words “Mola mia” —

“Never give up” in the local

dialect — worked a total of

16,000 hours to complete the

hospital.

“Work is at the heart of

this region’s culture,” Ber-

gamo Mayor Giorgio Gori

said Thursday as volunteers

were putting the finishing

touches on the field hospital.

“We roll up our sleeves and

get things done.”

The Alpini also have deep

ties to the city and the com-

munity that allowed them to

mobilize local contractors,

electricians and specialists

who could install equipment

such as medical gas lines for

free, Gori said.

The Alpini infantry was

formed in 1872 to secure the

northern border of the newly

unified Kingdom of Italy. It

is famous for its esprit de

corps forged in the harsh

mountainous environment,

Rizzini said. Today, eight

regiments carry out both

military and civilian aid mis-

sions around the world, in-

cluding setting up field hos-

pitals in response to natural

disasters such as earth-

quakes and tsunamis.

Rizzini said he had stud-

ied the Ebola crisis response

as part of his Alpini reserves

training. He drew on that

knowledge and worked with

Bergamo’s existing hospital,

Papa Giovanni XXIII, to de-

sign a field hospital specif-

ically engineered to prevent

the spread of the co-

ronavirus.

The convention center’s

cavernous halls have al-

lowed organizers to put

more space than usual be-

tween beds and to build hall-

ways that are extra wide. Air

will circulate more freely

than in a normal hospital

and will be purified with a

special system.

The entire space is di-

vided into red, yellow and

green zones, with physical

barriers and special sanita-

tion protocols in place for

each section. Radiology,

sanitation and analytical

labs are housed in classic

field hospital containers.

Amain goal was to pro-

tect not just patients but

also medical workers, who

account for 12% of co-

ronavirus cases in Italy,

Rizzini said. Doctors from

Papa Giovanni XXIII will

manage the facility, and the

staff will include medical

workers from Russia as well

as the medical nonprofit

organization Emergency,

which provides healthcare

in crisis zones.

Alpini volunteers will

continue to help with logis-

tics.

“The structure is very

complete from a technolog-

ical point of view,” said

Vanna Toninelli, spokes-

woman for Papa Giovanni

XXIII Hospital. “Its value is

very, very high.”

Toninelli said one of the

difficult aspects of COVID-

is that patients need inten-

sive care for prolonged peri-

ods of two to three weeks.

Before the coronavirus,

Papa Giovanni XXIII had

about 1,000 beds total, 80

of which were for intensive-

care patients. Now, any pro-

cedures deemed not urgent

have been suspended, and

all available space — such

as operating rooms — has

been converted into inten-

sive-care units. About 90

ICU beds have been dedi-

cated to coronavirus pa-

tients alone.

It will be quite some time

before there is a halt to new

coronavirus cases and

healthcare can get back to

normal, Toninelli said. Offi-

cials expect the field hospi-

tal to remain operational for

at least six months, or as

long as the coronavirus cri-

sis persists.

Brancolini is a special

correspondent.

In Italy, a field hospital built by volunteers

Led by the Alpini

infantry, locals in

hard-hit Bergamo help

construct facility for

COVID-19 patients.

By Janna Brancolini

BISHOPFrancesco Beschi performs a benediction at the new 142-bed field hospital in Bergamo, Italy, which

was built in nine days. He is flanked by project director Sergio Rizzini, left, and Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori.

Janna BrancoliniFor The Times

LONDON — British
Prime Minister Boris John-
son was admitted to a hospi-
tal Sunday for tests, his of-
fice said, because he is still
suffering symptoms 10 days
after he was diagnosed with
COVID-19.
Johnson’s office said the
admission to an undisclosed
London hospital came on
the advice of his doctor and
was not an emergency. The
prime minister’s Downing
Street office said it was a
“precautionary step” and
Johnson remains in charge
of the government.
Before his hospitaliza-
tion, Johnson, 55, had been
quarantinedin his Downing
Street residence since being
diagnosed on March 26.
Johnson has continued
to chair daily meetings on
Britain’s response to the
outbreak, and has released
several video messages
during his 10 days in isola-
tion.
In a message Friday, a
flushed and red-eyed John-
son said he was feeling bet-
ter but still had a fever.
The virus causes mild to
moderate symptoms in
most people, but for some,
especially older adults and
the infirm, it can cause
pneumonia and lead to
death.
President Trump offered
encouragement to Johnson
as he opened a White House
briefing on the pandemic
Sunday. “All Americans are
praying for him,” Trump
said.
Johnson has received
medical advice by phone
during his illness, but going
to a hospital means doctors

can see him in person.

Dr. Rupert Beale, a group

leader of the cell biology of

infection lab at the Francis

Crick Institute for biomedi-

cal studies, said doctors

would probably “be monitor-

ing important vital signs

such as oxygen saturations,”

as well as performing blood

tests, assessing Johnson’s

organ function and possibly

performing a CT scan on his

chest to assess his lungs.

Foreign Secretary Domi-

nic Raab, who has been des-

ignated to take over if John-

son becomes incapacitated,

is set to lead the govern-

ment’s coronavirus meeting

Monday.

Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie

Symonds, 32, revealed Sat-

urday that she had had co-

ronavirus symptoms for a

week, though she wasn’t

tested. Symonds, who is

pregnant, said she was now

“on the mend.” She has not

been staying with the prime

minister in Downing Street

since his diagnosis.

More than 48,000 people

have been confirmed to have

COVID-19 in the U.K., and

nearly 5,000 had died as of

early Monday.

Johnson’s government

was slower than those in

some European countries to

impose restrictions on daily

life in response to the pan-

demic, leading his critics to

accuse him of complacency.

He in effect imposed a

nationwide lockdown March

23, but his government re-

mains under huge pressure

to boost the country’s num-

ber of hospital beds and ven-

tilators and to expand test-

ing for the virus.

News of Johnson’s admis-

sion to the hospital came an

hour after Queen Elizabeth

II made a rare televised ad-

dress to the nation, in which

she urged Britons to remain

“united and resolute” in the

fight against the virus.

“We will succeed — and

that success will belong to

every one of us,” the 93-year-

old monarch said, drawing

parallels to the struggle of

World War II.

“We should take comfort

that while we may have

more still to endure, better

days will return: We will be

with our friends again; we

will be with our families

again; we will meet again,”

she said.

Boris Johnson hospitalized

as virus symptoms linger

associated press

BRITISHPrime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured

last month, had been quarantined since March 26.

Matt DunhamAssociated Press