Man Dies After Attending 'COVID Party' To Purposely Get Infected For 'Green Pass'

KEY POINTS

The "COVID party" was hosted in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy
There have been several similar parties in the country recently
At least three other people, including a young child, were reportedly hospitalized

A man died of COVID-19 after purposely getting infected with the virus by attending a party that was thrown to get antibodies.

The 55-year-old man in Austria, who has not been identified, wanted to get a green pass without vaccination, local media reported. The "COVID party" was hosted in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy, according to Ladbible. Over the recent weeks, several such parties were hosted in the country. At least three other people, including a young child, have reportedly been hospitalized in the Alpine region.

Local media reported many anti-vaxxers in Italy were deliberately trying to get infected so they can obtain something called a "green pass," which is now required for people to work and enjoy leisure activities in the country. This "green pass" shows someone has been vaccinated against COVID-19, recovered from it in the last six months or had a negative test in the last few days.

"They don't realize that the virus is very dangerous even in children and young people," Patrick Franzoni, coordinator of the anti-Covid unit in Bolzano, told local media Il Dolomiti [Google Translate]. "There are long-term consequences and even young people can end up in hospital... Here we have a child hospitalized in pediatrics, while a 55-year-old died in Austria after being infected during a corona party."

Franzoni said he found out about these COVID parties when three people who decided to attend, in order to get a green pass, ended up in hospital. It remains unclear if all three people infected were attending the same party or were part of different ones.

Meanwhile, there have been several incidents in the past as well where people have gathered together and hosted a party just so they can get infected with the virus and develop antibodies rather than getting a vaccine shot, Yahoo News Australia reported.

So far, there have been over 4.9 million COVID-19 cases in Italy since the start of the pandemic, and over 130,000 Covid-related deaths. It was one of the worst hit countries since the pandemic spread in Europe at the beginning of 2020. On Tuesday, there were 10,047 new cases and 67 new deaths in Italy.