The impact of the <scp>COVID</scp> ‐19 pandemic on patients with chronic plaque psoriasis being treated with biological therapy: the Northern Italy experience
Paolo Gisondi, Paola Facheris, Paolo Dapavo, Stefano Piaserico, Andrea Conti, Luigi Naldi, Simone Cazzaniga, Piergiorgio Malagoli, Antonio Costanzo
Abstract
The “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” (SARS-CoV-2) has spread over the four continents, causing the respiratory manifestations of Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and satisfying the epidemiological criteria for a pandemic [1]. As of April 1, 2020, more than one million COVID-19 positive cases have been identified and more than 54,000 deaths have occurred worldwide [2]. In Italy, 110,574 positive cases, 49,285 hospitalized patients and 13,155 deaths out of a population of 60,359,546 inhabitants, have been reported, respectively [3]. The highest number of deaths occurred in the northern Italian regions, i.e. Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont [3].