03-13-2020, 02:06 AM
quote:
Originally posted by MarkP
"Also alarming was Italy’s high fatality rate: With 463 dead and 9,172 infected, Italy’s fatality rate is running at 5% nationwide and 6% in Lombardy, far higher than the 3%-4% estimates elsewhere.
Dr. Giovanni Rezza, head of infectious disease at the National Institutes of Health, attributed the high rate to the fact that Italy has the world’s oldest population after Japan, and the median age of its virus-related dead is 80.
But there are young people who are infected too. Some have been in intensive care, including the first person to test positive in the north who hadn’t been to China, a 38-year-old Unilever worker named Mattia. He came to be known in Italy as Patient No. 1.
At the San Matteo hospital in Pavia, there was a sigh of relief after Mattia began breathing on his own Monday with just a small amount of oxygen assistance, said Dr. Francesco Mojoli, head of intensive care. He was moved out of the ICU to a sub-ICU unit and was speaking with doctors."
By NICOLE WINFIELD, AP News.
Seems relevant.
Northern Italy is a hotbed of illegal immigrants from China who were brought in to work in the garment industry. The factory owners are able to stamp "Made in Italy" on their products as opposed to the less desirable "Made in China" label. The vast majority of these Chinese are from the Wuhan area.