Bitcoin Community Funds Italian Red Cross Medical Facility to Combat Coronavirus

Bitcoin (BTC) donations are helping save Italian lives and protect first responders on the front line of the battle against COVID-19, according to Helperbit, a disaster management platform based on blockchain.

On April 5, an Advanced Medical Post (AMP) for pre-triage was erected by the Italian Red Cross in Castel Gandolfo, a town near Rome.

Set up in conjunction with the Colli Albani Committee, the AMP was purchased using bitcoin donations that were part of a fundraising campaign focused on the COVID-19 emergency in Italy. The campaign raised €29,350 (around US$31,828) in bitcoin.

AMPs are mobile medical centers used in times of crises to assess patients who may be in need of immediate medical assistance. In Italy, they're helping medical professionals combat COVID-19 by acting as a point of contact for those potentially infected with the novel coronavirus, who then receive testing and advice.

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Italy has been among the worst-affected nations during the pandemic. Over 15,800 have now died from the illness – around a quarter of the global total. However, the daily increase in deaths has now started to drop, bringing hopes that the worst may be over.

Beginning on March 13, the donations effort set up by the Colli Albani Committee managed to raise €10,000 ($10,825) in bitcoin in as little as three days.

The BTC funds have been used to purchase materials needed to build the AMP, which is now fully operational.

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“We are happy to have turned the received donations into a tangible aid. We are excited to have received so much help from the bitcoin community," said the president of the Colli Albani Committee, Bruno Pietrosanti, in a Helperbit blog post.

The campaign closed on April 7, having raised more than its target of 3.6873 bitcoin.