Some supporters in province at centre of epidemic welcome return to normality but others fear it is too soonCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our
Coronavirus coverageMauro Ausilio was among 40,000 Atalanta fans, most of whom had travelled 30 miles from the team’s home city of Bergamo to Milan’s San Siro stadium, for a
Champions League clash against Valencia on 19 February. “It was the first time in history that the club qualified for the Champions League and I didn’t want to miss out,” Ausilio said.
But unbeknown to them at the time, coronavirus had been circulating in
Italy for weeks and the first local infection was confirmed in Codogno, south of Milan, two days later. Atalanta won the game, but the fixture is now remembered as a detonator for a virus that would go on to kill an estimated 6,000 people across Bergamo, putting the province at the centre of Italy’s pandemic.