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Italian Envoys in Washington Muster Help for Homeland

Natalie Liu

   Amid their anxiety and mourning for friends and family in their
   virus-stricken homeland, the diplomats at Italy's embassy in Washington
   are working earnestly to secure help from afar.

   "We are all concerned by the situation in Italy. Our thoughts are
   constantly with relatives and friends, some of whom live in the
   hardest-hit areas of the country," said Ambassador Armando Varricchio,
   who answered questions by email in accordance with the new social
   distancing norms.

   Italy was the first European country to see a large spike in cases of
   COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and remains among the
   most severely affected, with more than 143,000 cases confirmed and more
   than 18,000 deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins
   University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

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