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349 Italians Die of Coronavirus in One Day, with a Total of 2,158 Deaths, 27,000 Infections, a Total Lockdown of the Country

March 16, 2020

 

A patient arrives at a dedicated coronavirus unit at a hospital in Rome, March 16, 2020

The latest information about the coronavirus crisis in Italy

The Local news@thelocal.it @thelocalitaly

Updated 16 March 2020

What's the situation in Italy?

Italy continues to struggle to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, which by Monday March 16th had led to 2,158 deaths.

Fatalities have jumped by more than 700 in the past 48 hours, while the number of confirmed cases continues to rise by a couple of thousand each day.

More than 27,000 people have now been diagnosed with the virus since the outbreak began in Italy in late February.

This figure includes some 2,700 patients who have now recovered, as well as those who have died.

The focus of the outbreak is still the northern region of Lombardy, where some 66 percent of the coronavirus-linked deaths have occurred and around 52 percent of all cases.

Almost all regions in Italy have now reported at least one death, although up until now the south has been less affected than the north. Nevertheless hospitals in the poorer southern regions are on red alert as they prepare for an outbreak.

How is Italy responding to the crisis?

The whole of Italy has been placed under quarantine measures and ordinary life has been hugely affected across the country. Many readers have been asking us questions about the rules of quarantine. We have tried to answer as many questions as we can in this article (paywall free).

On Wednesday March 11th Italy announced even tighter restrictions on the whole of the country, shutting all stores except for pharmacies and food shops, as the government fights to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"We will close shops, bars, pubs and restaurants. Home delivery is allowed," Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said in a national television address on Wednesday.

Conte said essential services including public transport would be "guaranteed".

However, some travel is affected. On Thursday March 12th it was announced that Rome would close Ciampino airport and one terminal Fiumicino airport due to a lack of demand and many of the country's long-distance Frecciarossa trains have been suspended as of Friday 13th.

Big businesses such as factories can remain open as long as they adopt "appropriate security measures to prevent contagion," Conte said.

Ceremonies such as marriages and funerals were banned and many churches have now closed their doors. Bars, cafes and restaurants have now closed their doors, though many are offering home delivery to customers, as everyone is advised to stay at home.

People are asked not to go out unless they need to – for example, to buy groceries or go to work. All travel is banned without a "serious" reason that cannot be postponed. People are also able to travel to return home.

Anyone found flouting the new rules could face a fine or even up to three months in prison, the government said.

While people in Italy are not confined indoors, they are advised to stay at home as much as possible. 

 https://www.thelocal.it/20200308/should-you-be-concerned-about-the-coronavirus-in-italy

Italy reports another 349 coronavirus deaths in one day

AFP/The Local news@thelocal.it @thelocalitaly

16 March 2020

A patient arrives at a dedicated coronavirus unit at a hospital in Rome. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP Italy on Monday reported 349 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, taking its total since last month to 2,158, the most after China.

The number of official COVID-19 fatalities has more than doubled since Thursday, when Italy's toll topped 1,000 for the first time, according to the latest figures from Italy's civil protection service.

It has reported more than 700 deaths in two days, including a record 368 in a single day on Sunday.

Italy has now confirmed 27,980 infections since the outbreak began, compared to 15,113 four days ago.

Of those 2,749 people have recovered, another 414 in the past 24 hours. 

That leaves Italy with 23,073 active cases of the new virus.

Italian health experts have predicted that the numbers will continue to rise in the coming days, with nationwide quarantine measures implemented on Wednesday expected to show results in around two weeks.

More than 12,800 people are currently being treated in hospital, including 1,851 in intensive care. Another 10,197 people are in self-isolation at home.

The overwhelming majority of the fatalities remained largely confined to northern regions, where the virus first started spreading around cities such as Milan.

The Italian financial capital's Lombardy region has recorded 1,420 deaths since the outbreak began, 66 percent of Italy's total -- about the same share it has had throughout the crisis.

Empty streets in Turin. Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

But the neighbouring Piedmont region around Turin has seen its number of deaths and infections nearly double in two days.

Piedmont reported 111 deaths and 1,516 infections on Monday, compared to 59 deaths and 873 infections on Saturday.

The Lazio region around Rome has recoded 19 deaths and 523 infections.

Nineteen of Italy's 20 regions have now reported at least one death from the new coronavirus, with the exception of Basilicata in the south.

Ten regions have seen fewer than ten deaths, and only three – Piedmont, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy – have had more than 100. 

Nearly 138,000 people have been tested for the virus across Italy, with around 20 percent coming back positive.

https://www.thelocal.it/20200316/italy-latest-coronavirus-deaths-cases

The 25-billion-euro plan to rescue Italy's economy from coronavirus crisis

AFP/The Local news@thelocal.it @thelocalitaly

16 March 2020

COVID-19 has killed more than 2,000 people in Italy and has forced Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to close most businesses for at least two weeks.

"To cope with this great emergency, we will release around 25 billion euros for the benefit of the Italian economic system," Conte said on Monday.

As part of the "Italy Cure" rescue plan, €10 billion will be allocated "to support employment and workers" and another €3.5 billion to help the healthcare system.

Some of the specific measures include:

Families can apply for permission to suspend their mortgage payments if business shutdowns caused by the pandemic threaten their livelihoods. Self-employed or seasonal workers can apply for a special payout of €600 in March. Parents can claim up to €600 to pay for babysitting. Parental leave is extended to 15 days. In March and April, people caring for a loved one with disabilities are entitled to take up to 12 days' leave a month instead of three. Employees can claim time under quarantine as sick leave.

The Italian rescue provides "a very strong injection of liquidity into the credit system that can mobilise around 340 billion [euros] in loans to the real economy, with suspension of loan and mortgage repayments," said Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri.

Neither Gualtieri nor Conte explained how much money was being injected into the financial system or how their estimate of €340 billion in cash flows was derived. It represents roughly 20 percent of Italy's entire gross domestic product.

Gualtieri did not mention how the government intends to offset the partial suspension of some tax payments and employee contributions until June. He said Rome "counts on European funds" to support some of its measures.

Coronavirus: What do we know about those who have died in Italy?

An undertaker stands outside a cemetary in the Lombardy region on Sunday. Photo: AFP After the death toll in Italy shot up by more than 700 in just two days, here's what we know and don't know about those dying in connection to the coronavirus outbreak.

Italy recorded 349 more deaths from the novel coronavirus on Monday, following a record jump of 368 on Sunday.

The total now stands at 2,158, the highest number of fatalities related to the virus outside China.

Italian health experts have predicted that the numbers will continue to rise in the coming days, with nationwide quarantine measures implemented on Tuesday expected to start showing results within around ten days, the prime minister has stated.

While the vast majority of cases, as well as deaths, have been in the north of Italy, quarantine measures now apply to the whole country.

  What do we know about those who have died?   There hasn't been a lot of data available on those who have died in connection to the outbreak, but the picture became somewhat clearer on Friday March 13th as health authorities released a new set of data.

"The data on mortality are deepening with the medical records of the deceased," said president of Italy's Higher Health Institute (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, or ISS), Silvio Brusaferro, as he presented the new data on Friday.

  The picture is very similar to that given by the previous set of statistics released on March 5: the median age of the deceased is 80, the majority of victims are male, and they had an average of 2.7 pre-existing health conditions.

Almost all patients were already suffering from serious health problems, including cancer, when the coronavirus infection was detected, according to the new data from the ISS.   Two of those who died had no pre-existing health conditions, the data showed.

"Patients who died with coronavirus have an average age of over 80 years, 80.3. The peak of mortality is in the 80-89 year age range. Lethality, ie the number of deaths among the sick, is higher among those over 80," stated.

On March 5, the average given age of the deceased was slightly higher at 81 years old, but the overall picture remains very similar.

Brusaferro stated that two patients under the age of 40 had died. Both were aged 39.

One had a tumour and died in hospital, while the other died at home and “had some comorbid factors including diabetes, obesity and other types of ailments that characterized his life before becoming infected,” said Brusaferro.

Women made up 25.8 percent of the deceased, and 38 percent of patients overall. One of the possible explanations experts are looking at is the fact that statistically, men smoke more.

The northern Lombardy region around Milan remained the European epicentre of the pandemic, officially reporting 1,218 deaths, or 67 percent of the Italian total.

  But on Sunday, the number of deaths in the southeastern Puglia region around the city of Bari doubled from eight to 16.   Fatalities have now been reported in every part of Italy, except for two rural, sparsely populated regions in the south: Molise and Basilicata.

It's important not to confuse data on deceased patients with the overall data on patients diagnosed with the illness, the ISS stressed.

The study showed a 16-year difference between the average age of the deceased patients, and that of the virus-positive patients in general.

"Although preliminary, these data confirm the observations made so far in the rest of the world on the main characteristics of patients, in particular on the fact that the elderly and people with pre-existing diseases are more at risk," commented ISS president Silvio Brusaferro.

"These are very fragile people who often live in close contact with others, and who we must protect as much as possible."

But while both Italian health officials and media have been quick to point out that those at highest risk are elederly people with pre-existing health conditions, that fact does very little to reassure people – particularly in a country with a population as elderly as Italy's.

  EU statistics show Italy has the oldest population in Europe by almost any count.   It has the lowest percentage of young people, and a higher percentage of those aged over 65 (22.6 percent as of 2018) than any of the other member EU states.   Its median age is now 45.9 years compared to the EU's median of 42.8, higher than any other European country except Germany.

“The lethality by age group in Italy is not higher than that of other countries,” Graziano Onder, Associate Professor of Geriatrics at the the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Policlinico A. Gemelli in Rome, told Italian media.

He pointed out that the Italian population has “a very high average age, and a significant percentage of the population has multiple diseases, a factor that increases the risk of death. It is no coincidence that the average number of pre-existing condtions observed in the deceased is 2.7 ".

https://www.thelocal.it/20200311/coronavirus-what-do-we-know-about-the-victims-in-italy  

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