The Outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy

Abstract

In Italy, the unexpected pandemic of COVID-19 has caused a never-seen-before disaster in terms of hospitalizations and deaths. On January 9, 2020, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a new coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2), had been identified as the causative agent of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), and the genomic sequence was made public. Italy was the first European nation to be affected by COVID-19 with 143,626 confirmed total cases and 18,279 deaths to date (1). The pandemic has mainly been located in northern Italy (Figure 1), partially sparing, for the moment, the southern part of the country. Italy was not prepared for COVID-19, currently a planetary health emergency with 1,436,198 cases and 85,522 deaths worldwide (2). The Italian crisis provoked by COVID-19 is the most serious event in Italian history after World War II; it is a national human, health, and economic tragedy. COVID-19 mortality in Italy has been 9%, higher than that in China. The reasons for this high mortality are unclear. However, the infected fatality rate may actually be lower because the tests have not been widespread compared to other countries such as South Korea. Furthermore, the oldest population in Italy may have increased mortality. In fact, the median age in Italy of those who have died is ∼80 years (Figure 2). No patient <20 years of age has been hospitalized or has died. Only 1% of the deaths have been detected in patients <50 years of age.

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