Officials with the European Union are expressing regret over how the governing body handled Italy’s catastrophic coronavirus outbreak.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Thursday that some of the blame falls on the EU for not helping Italy fast enough and for not providing more resources and assistance to help mitigate the humanitarian disaster there.
“Too many were not there on time when Italy needed a helping hand at the very beginning,” she told the European Parliament, according to the Guardian. “And yes, for that it is right that Europe as a whole offers a heartfelt apology.”
Von der Leyen previously criticized some EU member states for their “only-for-me response” to the health crisis.
Italy has been one of the worst-hit countries in the world during the pandemic. As of Thursday, some 169,000 people have been infected, and more than 22,000 people have died. Early on in the outbreak, Germany and France began export bans on vital medical equipment.
In Italy, people are not happy with how the EU responded. A March poll found that a staggering 88% of Italians thought that the bloc was failing to support their country.
In Europe, some countries, including Italy, are beginning to take steps to reopen their economies, even as fear of a second wave of infections looms large. Italy is gradually reopening stores, with plans for the official lockdown to end in early May. Factories and stores in other European countries are also gradually beginning to reopen.
Worldwide there have been more than 2.1 million cases of the coronavirus and at least 141,000 deaths.
