RTTue, 10 Mar 2020 17:35 UTC
© REUTERS/Remo CasilliA delivery man wears a protective face mask as he rides a bicycle at Campo de Fiori, in Rome, Italy, March 10, 2020.
Another 168 people in Italy have died of the COVID-19 coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 631, while the total number of cases rose by over ten percent to 10,149. The entire country is locked down in quarantine.
Tuesday's jump in the deaths, from the previous record of 463, represents
a 36 percent rise and the largest in absolute numbers since the infection was first noticed on February 21, the Civil Protection Agency said.
Some 877 patients were in intensive care, up from 733 on Monday. The number of patients who recovered has also risen, however, and stood at 1,004 on Tuesday as opposed to 724 the day before.
The rising numbers come on the day the nation-wide quarantine imposed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte went into effect,
closing off Italy's borders. All public gatherings, including sporting events, have been banned and civilian movement has been restricted. Schools and universities have been shuttered
through April 3.
The novel coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, first appeared in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019. Most of the fatalities worldwide have been in China so far, but Italy and South Korea have been the next hardest-hit. The virus causes severe pneumonia that can be lethal to the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.
Comment: Spain's parliament has been
suspended for at least one week after a lawmaker tested positive. Israel has introduced
mandatory quarantine for all visitors coming from abroad. Saudi Arabia will impose a
$133k fine on any visitor providing inaccurate health or travel history disclosures. Iran's leader Khamenei
cancelled his traditional New Year's speech in Mashhad. Iraqi authorities have
closed the holy city of Najaf. And while cases are exploding in Iran and Italy, China continues to see their own numbers going down - all
temporary hospitals in Wuhan have now been shut down. (See more updates and stats
here.)
For an idea of what Italian hospitals and doctors are going experiencing, here are
some accounts. The biggest issue is that the hospitals are not equipped for the number of serious cases requiring intensive care. Doctors are having to choose who gets a spot in the ICU, and who doesn't. These are cases over and above their regular workload. So while numbers in absolute terms are not yet very high - hospitals are already working at or above their capacity to treat serious cases coming in. If China could reverse the exponential spread of its own cases, other countries should be able to do the same. In the meantime, the medical system will be struggling to keep up in countries where that has yet to happen and spread of cases is still growing exponentially.
See also:
*History replaying itself again and the ignorant Italians don't care.
Look at all the Italian famous foods: Italians are world-leaders in eating immune-system-weakening JUNK!!
Deadly Pizza, killer Bottarga, crazy dangerous Lasagna! Look at their Ribbolita = "this vegetable soup is thickened with KILLER bread instead of meat". Then their Polenta = DEADLY GRAIN, Risotto = deadly starch, Carbonara = heap of carbs again, Focaccia = KILLER BREAD, Arancini & Supplì = again rice & cheese bad combination , apart from the weakly nutritious chicken.
Gelato = deadly ice-cream, Tiramisu = again deadly carbs.
*History replaying itself again and the ignorant Italians don't care:
No wonder the Roman Empire crumbled during the Plagues, Romans dropping like flies as a result of their deadly grain-based diet making them very susceptible to viruses. Only they can thank their traditions for their repeated FATE.
While the barbarians survived in surprising numbers, thanks to their mainly meat & animal fat based diet.