Traumatized Italian nurse kills herself after working tirelessly treating COVID-19 patients

A 34-year-old Italian nurse reportedly died by suicide after serving at the forefront of Italy's battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak. Daniela Trezzi, who was working on the front line of the coronavirus crisis at a hospital in Lombardy, the worst-affected region of Italy, was initially said to have taken the drastic step after testing positive for COVID-19 and fearing that she might have infected others. However, it was later reported that it was the trauma of what she'd seen over these past few weeks that caused her death.

According to Daily Mail, in a statement confirming Trezzi's death, the National Federation of Nurses of Italy expressed "pain and dismay" over the loss. The heartbreaking news of the nurse's death came as Italy's COVID-19 death toll surged again on Tuesday with 743 new fatalities recorded in just one day. This was followed by 683 more the following day. The staggering number of deaths reported in such a short span crushed all hopes that the pandemic's attack on Italy was coming to an end. On the other hand, the number of total infections only reported an 8 percent rise—the lowest level since the nation registered its first death on February 21.

Trezzi is said to have been working in the intensive care ward at the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza; about nine miles from Milan. Mario Alparone, the general manager of San Gerardo hospital, said that the nurse had been at home sick since March 10 and that "she was not under surveillance." Meanwhile, according to The Telegraph, calling Trezzi's death "a terrible episode," National Federation of Nurses of Italy said, "What Daniela had witnessed recently had contributed heavily….it was the straw that broke the camel’s back." Although the federation initially said that the nurse had tested positive for COVID-19 and was mortified that she may have infected others, these claims were later denied by the hospital director. 

In a statement about Trezzi's death, the federation said: "Each of us has chosen this profession for good and, unfortunately, also for bad: we are nurses. The condition and stress to which our professionals are subjected is under the eyes of all." The federation further noted that another nurse died by suicide in Venice a week ago and warned that "in these stressful conditions, these may not be the last."

An Italian research institute recently released worrisome figures which revealed that about 5,760 health workers in the country had been infected with the novel coronavirus. Nino Cartabellotta—the head of the Gimbe foundation which collected the data—urged that this phenomenon must be "curbed to safeguard those who take care of us." Trezzi's death follows that of Diego Bianco—the 47-year-old paramedic who became one of Italy's youngest coronavirus victims earlier this month. Following his death, Bianco's colleagues urged officials to protect paramedics as they risk exposure to COVID-19 during their shifts. 

"The thing that worries us the most is the carelessness with which rescue workers are abandoned to their destiny," Davide Brescancin—one of Bianco's colleagues—said at the time. "We don't know where Diego contracted the virus, we are all wondering the same. Maybe he was not infected at work, yet there are some factories that intend to reopen tomorrow pending medical supplies. But the fast and terrible end of Diego could happen to many of us (unfortunately many others have already died) if we do not immediately close everything, establish a quarantine income and stop all types of production."

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