Sardinia’s Billionaire nightclub accused of negligence over Covid outbreak

A nightclub in Sardinia owned by the former Formula One team boss Flavio Briatore has been accused of “epidemic negligence” after an outbreak of Covid-19 there last summer brought the 2020 tourism season on the island to an abrupt halt and was linked to clusters of infections across Italy.

Two other venues – Phi Beach and Country Club – were accused of negligence as Sardinia prosecutors wrapped up an investigation into nightclub contagions.

The management at Billionaire, to which the rich and famous gravitate in Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda, allegedly failed to take appropriate measures to ensure staff were well protected from the virus, such as providing them with a sufficient number of face masks. Fifty-eight employees tested positive in the outbreak, which emerged in mid-August, and infections among footballers, celebrities and other clubgoers were traced back to the venue.

Briatore was hospitalised in Milan in late August after becoming infected, as was his friend Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister. Berlusconi was confirmed to have coronavirus in early September, shortly after returning from his villa on the Costa Smeralda. The 83-year-old had been pictured with Briatore outside his Sardinia holiday home, both without face masks on.

Billionaire opened in July after the spring lockdown and hosted thousands of guests before being forced to close due to the outbreak, which was partly blamed for a rise in cases in other Italian regions including Lazio, Campania and Tuscany as Costa Smeralda holidaymakers returned home.

Briatore said at the time that his nightclub had “always respected the rules. But if people are all stuck together, you can’t do anything about it.”

Prosecutors in the town of Tempio Pausania began their investigation after unions gathered complaints among nightclub staff over work conditions. Staff at Billionaire who were suspected of having Covid-19 allegedly continued to work or were not given swab tests, while positive cases were allegedly reported to the local health authority late or not at all.

The managers of Phi Beach and Country Club allegedly failed to sufficiently equip staff with protective equipment, including face masks.

A lawyer for Billionaire’s management, Antonella Cuccureddu, rejected the accusations. “At Billionaire, anti-Covid measures were adopted with the utmost care when the authorities allowed nightclubs to reopen,” She told the local newspaper La Nuova Sardegna. “We will have the opportunity to provide our knowledge of the records to prosecutors in order to prove that what actually happened is not attributable to any crime.”

Prosecutors will now meet with management and lawyers of the nightclubs before presenting their evidence to a judge in late July. The judge will then decide if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Briatore also faces allegations of defamation after a row with a Sardinian mayor who limited nightlife hours along the Costa Smeralda.