Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses changes in the treatment of dead people from Covid-19, and how institutions have dealt with this change in "managing” death. It offers a discussion and a reflection on how the outbreak of Covid-19 impacted the healthcare systems of Italy and the United Kingdom.

Paper long abstract:

The outbreak of Covid-19 has strongly affected the Italian national healthcare system. The government faced challenges such as the exacerbation of the existing scarcity of hospital beds and the small number of healthcare professionals. The fear and doubts of both professionals and citizens regarding this new virus have questioned the Italian government too, especially when considering vaccination procedures. Covid-19 has affected how deceased people were treated, as new procedures were adopted to contain the spread of the virus. Alongside this, the death of people from Covid-19 has often been compared to violent deaths, capturing media attention. This paper offers a comparative analysis between the United Kingdom and Italy on the approaches used and opens the reflection on the new meanings and ways used by institutions ascribed to the concept of death.