The fatality rate has been falling consistently since the end of June
As Italy experiences the peak of the second wave of the new coronavirus pandemic, it has seen the lethality of Sars-CoV-2 fall by almost 75% compared to the first wave of the health crisis.
Between the 9th and 30th of June, when Italians were already beginning to resume activities after a strict lockdown, deaths caused by Covid-19 represented 14,5% of the total confirmed cases of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
However, with the evolution of treatments and the increase in testing capacity and ICU beds, the fatality rate reached 3,8% in the last three days – currently, Italy has 1.238.072 cases and 46.464 deaths in the pandemic .
The index has been falling consistently since the end of June, which reflects the growth in the processing capacity of molecular tests (RT-PCR) – the only ones used in the country to monitor the epidemiological curve – by Italian laboratories and hospitals.
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ANALYZE MY CASEOn November 13th, the Ministry of Health recorded a record 254.908 RT-PCR tests completed in a 24-hour period, a difference of more than 200 compared to the 48.273 on June 30.
On March 27, when Italy broke a single-day death record (919), only 33.019 tests were processed. To date, the country has carried out 19,23 million RT-PCR tests for the new coronavirus.
Elderly and hospitals
Furthermore, in the first wave of the pandemic, Italian health authorities recommended concentrating testing on patients arriving at the hospital.
At the end of March, the median age of confirmed positive cases was 62 years old, a number that fell to 48 years old, according to the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) – the elderly are the main risk group for Covid-19.
Another factor that contributed to the drop in lethality is the increase in available beds in ICUs: from 5 before the pandemic to around 11 currently. However, despite this, 16 of the country's 20 regions have already exceeded the critical range of more than 30% of intensive care vacancies occupied by Covid patients.
The situation is especially serious in Lombardy (86,29%) and the Aosta Valley (85%), in northern Italy, according to a survey by the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore .
Despite the reduction in lethality, in absolute numbers Italy has already returned to the level of deaths seen at the first peak of the pandemic: there were 731 deaths on November 17, highest figure since April 3, when 766 victims were recorded.
To contain the second wave, seven of Italy's 20 regions are already in lockdown: Abruzzo, Calabria, Campania, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Aosta Valley. A curfew is also in force from 22pm to 5am across the country.
By ANSA Brazil
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