Roma to donate thousands of masks as part of new COVID-19 crisis initiative

Outside of Asia, no country has been harder hit than Italy by the Coronavirus, as it is more commonly known, with almost 4,000 people believed to have been infected at the time of writing.

With 197 fatalities to date, only China has currently suffered greater losses due to COVID-19.

After schools and colleges were closed earlier in the week, Roma have now been instructed that the club will play behind closed doors in Italy until April 3.

In response to the crisis, AS Roma has today launched three new initiatives designed to directly help both the medical professionals and the general public in the Italian capital.

Through the club’s foundation, Roma Cares, a total of 2,000 FFP3 masks, 1,500 blue masks and 60 bottles of sanitizing gel will be donated to the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital, on the recommendation of the National Civil Protection.

The hospital in Rome is the epicenter of the battle in Italy to save the lives of those infected by the disease all over the country. Amongst the first cases treated by the hospital were the two Chinese tourists who contracted the virus in their homeland, and who are now recovering.

The hospital is currently home to 31 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19, with a further 34 patients under observation.

From Tuesday, March 10, Roma Cares will also begin the process of distributing 2,000 small bottles of sanitizing gel to the customers of the Roma Store in Piazza Colonna.

Meanwhile, earlier on Friday Roma coach Paulo Fonseca fronted a new public safety video that the club will distribute to millions of social media followers in an effort to further communicate how fans can help limit the spread of the virus.

Fonseca was joined in the video by Italian internationals Nicolo Zaniolo and Leonardo Spinazzola, Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and AS Roma Women stars Tecla Pettenuzzo and Camelia Ceasar.

AS Roma and Roma Cares wish to express their closeness to all healthcare professionals tackling the Coronavirus and all infected patients.

We strongly advise all fans to watch the AS Roma public safety announcement video and stay safe.