Its a long read, so many things piled on each other to slow Europe response.
Italy's call for urgent help was ignored as coronavirus swept through Europe
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/15/revealed-the-inside-story-of-europes-divided-coronavirus-response
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It was a moment of chilling clarity. On 26 February, with the numbers of Italians known to be infected by coronavirus tripling every 48 hours, the country’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, appealed to fellow EU member states for help.
But what happened next came as a shock. The distress call was met with silence.
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The stark reality was that in the months and years before coronavirus arrived in Europe, stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) had dwindled. Emergency supplies of masks had expired, been destroyed and never replaced. Pandemic preparedness plans were out of date.
“Several European countries had a strategic stock of masks that were outdated … Most of them were just destroyed,” said one scientific adviser.
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