The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy passed the one million mark, sparking renewed calls for another national lockdown.
Italian hospitals are struggling to cope with the second wave sweeping across Europe, with medical facilities in the south not as well equipped to fight the virus as are those in the more affluent north.
The most recent figures from the Italian Health Ministry show 42,953 people in Italy have died from the virus since the start of the pandemic, the highest death toll on the continent.
Giovanni Leoni, vice president of an Italian doctors’ federation, believes a strict lockdown is the only way to combat the climbing death toll.
"The number of positive cases is doubling every 10 days," he told The National.
“The number of ICU beds occupied by coronavirus patients is 47 per cent, which is past the threshold of 40 per cent.
“The numbers that we are seeing are also reflective of 10 days ago, due to how the virus presents itself in patients. Therefore, we need a radical change to stop the spread.”
He said that patients during this second wave tended to be younger than those in March and April when Italy was the first country in Europe to be hit by coronavirus.
Dr Leoni’s concerns were echoed by others in his profession. This week the country’s national association of doctors and nurses said in an open letter: “The hospitals are close to collapse because of the shortage of personnel and the lack of beds in the face of an abnormal flow of patients because of the rapid and vertiginous spread of Covid infection.”
A hospital in Naples became so overwhelmed with people suffering from coronavirus on Tuesday that patients had to be given oxygen through their car windows.
Italy has a three-tier system of yellow, orange and red local restrictions – which correlate to the coronavirus transmission rate and hospital capacity – but these have been subject to intense political debate across the county.
Last week, Prime Minster Giuseppe Conte announced a nationwide curfew from 10pm to 5am until December 3 and ordered capacity on public transport be cut to 50 per cent.
In an interview with Italy's La Stampa newspaper on Wednesday, the premier said he would try to avoid a total lockdown.
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Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
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Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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A rare disease is classified as one that affects a small percentage of the population. More than 7,000 diseases are identified as rare and most are genetic in origin. More than 75 per cent of rare genetic diseases affect children.
Collectively rare diseases affect 1 in 17 people, or more than 400 million people worldwide. Very few have any available treatment and most patients struggle with numerous health challenges and life-long ailments that can go undiagnosed for years due to lack of awareness or testing.
