Why are so many Italians of Covid-19 dying?

Once again, Italians ask themselves: why is Covid-19 killing more people here than anywhere else?

The answer lies, in part, in demographics, say public health experts. Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world, followed by Japan. About one in four Italians is over 65, an age group more likely to suffer from the disease.

Second factor: Multi-story homes are especially common in Italy, with older people likely to be infected by their younger relatives.

Since the outbreak, more than 60% of those killed by the virus in Italy have been over 60%, and 70% over 70%. Deaths in many other countries are also concentrated in the elderly, but they are relatively high in Italy.

Italy’s per capita mortality rate also looks bad. According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, 15.9 coronavirus deaths have been reported per 100,000 inhabitants in the country in the last two weeks, compared to Spain’s 9.9 in Germany and in France.

In March, images of military trucks carrying the bodies of Covid-19 victims outside the city of Bergamo became a symbol of Italy’s tragedy and a warning to the rest of the world.

After the first wave was suppressed by Italy through a long and severe lockdown, some Italians thought that the death toll would repeat itself. In the summer the virus infections slowed to a halt. Millions of Italians adopted the mask. Hospitals and the government appeared better prepared.

The Italian infection remained negligible even in early autumn, with a second wave of infection spreading to Spain, France and the UK, but with the onset of winter, Italy returned to where it was in March: the worst-affected area in Europe.

On Friday, the Italian government announced another lockout, over the Christmas and New Year holidays, to allow hospitals to overflow and even more deaths in January.

From December 24 to January 6, bars and rest restaurants will be closed and there will be restrictions on travel and movement across the country. On certain days, such as Christmas Eve and on weekends, most stores should also be closed.

Explaining the new rules, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday that “there is a fear among our experts that the trend of infection may increase during the Christmas holidays.”

Despite a policy aimed at sheltering the elderly, the virus has re-emerged in nursing homes and hospitals, affecting more than 65 people.

Yet age alone does not make sense to Italy’s monstrous telly. Antonella Viola, a professor of pathology at the University of Padua, said the national health care system, which was overly stretched and under pressure before the epidemic, was also to blame.

“Yes, the population is old and weak, and pre-existing here. But it can’t be different from the rest of Europe, “said Dr. Viola. “The way local healthcare is organized is a clear problem. There are very few doctors. G.P. Have a lot of patients being cared for properly. ”

In the spring, hospitals in the worst-affected parts of northern Italy did not have enough beds to treat all critically ill Covid-19 patients. To avoid recurrence, the government demanded an increase in the number of intensive care beds across the country.

But many hospitals have struggled to reduce the flow of Covid-19 patients in this way because they do not have enough doctors and nurses to care for them, a result of partial spending cuts.

And little has been done to improve outpatient care. Local health-care networks, including family doctors, have long been neglected in many regions of Italy, public health experts say. Thus, many Covid-19 patients who stay at home receive little or no support. Many seriously ill people come to the hospital very late, if they make it at all.

Even in the prosperous northern region of Lombardy, which has some of the best hospitals in Europe, the local network of physicians and small clinics is poorly equipped to care for the Covid-19 patients at home, especially in remote rural or mountainous areas.

“It’s a system that prioritizes hospital care. We have excellent special care like ICU and transplant units, ”said Guido Marinoni, a representative of Lombardy, an association of Italian doctors. “But what to do with local medicine and prevention was put in another place. It has become clear. “

Since the onset of the epidemic, about 100% of Italians have tested positive for the virus, a profitable research project based at Our Oxford University, linked to Our World Data. Any% of Italians have died. Major European country. In Germany, about 1.7% of those who tested positive died.

The true rate of death among infected people is significantly lower, experts say, because many virus-carriers are never tested.

Italy spent 3, 3,650 on health care per resident in 2019, while Germany spent, 6,650, according to figures from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The average among OECD nations was 4,224 per person.

“Germany is better equipped and generally better prepared,” said Luciano Gatinoni, currently an Italian professor of anesthesiology and intensive care, currently studying at Göttingen, a German university.

Write to Margirita Stankati Margirita.stakatiટીwsj.com