Nightmare In Italy: Lombardy Is COVID Epicenter Again Locals can't tell whether it's a second or third wave ... or just a continuation of the first wave when Northern Italy was the West's first epicenter of the coronavirus. BRESCIA — By last week, at the Chiari hospital in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, scenes were eerily reminiscent of one year ago. The facility that is between the cities of Bergamo and Brescia is the only nearby "dirty" hospital, using the doctors' jargon to refer to the hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 patients. "We are at our limit," says Mauro Borelli, a general manager of public health service in the region. "Our availability is 110 beds — after we reach that, we'll have to close the specialized surgical wards." By late February, the number of patients hospitalized at the facility was nearing 100, one-third of whom were in sub-intensive therapy and attached to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure helmets. "The average age of our patients is 50 years old, and more than half are infected with the English variant of the virus," adds Borelli.