Red Cross, Rocca: “A year of relentless commitment against the virus, never like this since the war”

More than a year after the start of the crisis, the commitment of the volunteers of the Italian Red Cross to fight the pandemic makes President Francesco Rocca “proud”. “An unprecedented all-round commitment in recent years. An extraordinary job has been done, never like this since the Second World War. The operators – Rocca explains to Adnkronos – were present at the community level, bringing out the best from the over 700 committees And I am not referring only to the activities with ambulances, the great work has been above all that of assisting families, of those who have found themselves in difficulty: a behind the scenes of the Red Cross’s commitment not always visible. they never stopped, never complained of fatigue. Even today their work continues uninterrupted “. Rocca speaks of “impressive” numbers: since the beginning of the pandemic, the Red Cross operators have actually totaled 1.5 million days of volunteering; about 300,000 sick people were transported by CRI vehicles; due to the economic consequences of the pandemic, concrete aid (food parcels and / or meal vouchers) was provided to 1.5 million people; the toll-free number of the Italian Red Cross, through its operators and psychologists, responded to 25,000 requests for help; there were about 13,000 recipients of sanitation kits among homeless people. Overall, 400,000 services were carried out by the CRI committees throughout the national territory. Despite the unstoppable commitment and full availability, during the emergency the Italian Red Cross ended up in the crosshairs of coronavirus skeptics. “From the niche of deniers to the spread of fake news on Covid-19, even the Red Cross has paid a price. But I don’t hear myself said to be higher than the rest of the community”, comments Rocca. “It undoubtedly had an impact – he says -, if we take into consideration the great availability and generosity on the part of the Cri volunteers. were addressed as ‘infectors’ by the tenants of the building where they were “. It was normal that there was fear – he adds -, we were at the beginning and there was still not much knowledge about the virus. For this reason, I do not want to give particular weight to the few who have tried to do harm, also because, despite everything, they have not succeeded: not only the Red Cross, but all our communities have shown that they are stronger “. The president of the Italian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Ifrc) then states that he had no idea about the alleged escape of the virus from a Wuhan laboratory. “I have no scientific skills. My job is to bring assistance to people and do it in the best possible way. Honestly – he continues – little changes for me whether Covid-19 was created in the laboratory or is animal-transmitted. Our role is to help people in the face of such a contagious disease. After that, I trust the institutions and the WHO and await confident answers. “Don’t think that we are now out of the pandemic.” all those who have suffered closures. We must be aware that we have to live with this disease for a long time until the entire population of the globe is made safe “, Rocca argues.” Not just safety, the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic will also last a long time. These two aspects will accompany us beyond the reopening. Ours will therefore tend to be a false normality until there is a global vaccination “. And for the vaccines to reach everyone, to the poorest countries,” we need to work on intellectual properties. The World Trade Organization must find solutions that guarantee access to the production and distribution of vaccines to reach the most remote communities. Then the Red Cross is ready to do its part “, concludes. (By Sibilla Bertollini)