A TOP Italian coronavirus doctor has described her dying patients' last moments as they begged to speak to loved ones.

Doctor Francesca Cortellaro is based at the San Carlo Borromeo hospital at the front line of the outbreak in Milan and witnesses her patients arrive and die alone, remaining lucid until the end.

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Medics protect themselves in the Spedali Civili hospital in Brescia, Italy Credit: Reuters

One infected patient at a hospital in Brescia waits for treatment Credit: Reuters

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Dr Cortellaro told Italian newspaper Il Giornale: "You know what's most dramatic? Seeing patients dying alone, listening to them as they beg you to say goodbye to their children and grandchildren."

She added: "They are lucid, they do not go into narcolepsy. It is as if they were drowning, but with time to understand it.

"When they are about to die, they sense it".

They are lucid ... When they are about to die, they sense it. Doctor Francesca Cortellaro

The doctor described how she helped a dying grandmother say a final goodbye to her granddaughter.

"I pulled out the phone and called her on video," she explained.

"They said goodbye. Soon after she was gone.

"By now I have a long list of video calls. I call it a farewell list."



ON THE FRONT LINE

Doctors and nurses across the world have shared harrowing tales and photos of exhausting shifts as they battle against the virus.

As Italy sees the worst coronavirus outbreak outside of China, Italian doctors have been struggling with the rate of infected patients.

Nurse Elena Pagliarini, 40, was snapped slumped at her desk with a keyboard for a pillow and a mask over her face, as she snatched a five-minute break.

She has been working round the clock shifts at Cremona Hospital near Milan.

Fears are mounting that the national health system may not be able to keep up with the disease.

Bergamo, in the Lombardy region near Milan, is among the Italian towns worst affected by coronavirus.

It has more than 2,000 confirmed cases and almost 150 deaths from COVID-19.

A church chapel next to the city's cemetery has been transformed into a mortuary chamber.

The chapel of All Saints keeps an average of 40 coffins a day ahead of burial or cremation, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

The adjacent cemetery has been closed to the public for the first time since the Second World War.

The crematorium cannot cope with the high mortality rate and is working 24 hours a day.

Families of the victims often wait several days before their loved ones can be cremated.

ITALY ON LOCKDOWN

Italy has seen the worst coronavirus outbreak outside of China, with more than 1,000 deaths and the total number of people infected with COVID-19 standing at more than 15,100.

The country was put under an unprecedented lockdown on Monday in a desperate attempt to control the spread of coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Italy took the drastic step to close all shops except pharmacies and food outlets.

Hairdressers and beauty parlours have closed, along with bars and restaurants that cannot guarantee they can keep a distance of at least one metre between customers.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told the BBC the measures imposed in the first area in the north of the country were proving effective.

He said: "Italy was the first nation in Europe to be affected so badly. But I hope it also means that Italy is the first one to leave the emergency behind.

"Our grandfathers were drafted to go to war; we're being asked to stay at home."

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12 Top Italian medical chief Roberto Stella, 67, is the latest casualty of the coronavirus after dying on Tuesday night of respiratory failure in Como, Northern Italy

12 Medics treat coronavirus patients in intensive care at Cremona Hospital, northern Italy Credit: Reuters

12 Patients lie face-down in Cremona Hospital, northern Italy Credit: Reuters

12 A man wearing a protective face mask walks past closed Touristation in Rome

12 People wearing protective face masks line up at a safe distance in front of a supermarket in Milan

12 Doctors face having to choose who to treat based on survival chances Credit: Reuters

12 The emergency triage section of a Hospital in Brescia, Lombardy Credit: Avalon.red. All rights reserved.

12 Medics assess a patient ahead of treatment in northern Italy Credit: Avalon.red. All rights reserved.

12 An operator at work during road sanitation to counter the spread of Coronavirus in Brescia, Italy

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Italy on lockdown Italians told to stay home and “limit social contact as much as possible”

All public events banned, with sporting matches including Serie A games suspended

Weddings and funerals cancelled, with cinemas, gyms and pubs closed

Travel only allowed for “urgent, verifiable work situations and emergencies or health reasons”

Public and private companies encouraged to put their employees on leave

Mortgage payments suspended, with debt moratoriums offered to small firms and households

Italian PM announces the WHOLE of Italy is now on lockdown in response to coronavirus outbreak

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