Italy worries about high death toll among coronavirus patients

For every 100 Italians infected, more than 3 people die (3.5 percent). Among the 20 most-affected countries in the world, only Mexico and Iran have higher fatality rates among infected patients (9 percent and 4.7 percent respectively), according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Italy’s numbers are high in comparison to others in Europe too: In France, the case-fatality rate is 2.4 percent; in Germany it’s 1.6 percent; and hard-hit Spain has a rate of 2.7 percent. Only the United Kingdom, with 3.4 percent, has similarly worrying figures. There is no easy explanation for the high mortality among infected Italians, according to Enrico Bucci, a biochemist and adjunct professor at Temple University of Philadelphia. Most likely, it is the result of a combination of known factors: the age of Italy’s population, the quality of its health care system, and the choices made by politicians — though it is unclear how much weight each carries, said Bucci. According to Eurostat data, the median age in Italy is 46.7, compared with an EU average of 43.1, making it one of the oldest in Europe — and that trend is only accelerating. Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of Italians over 80 went from 5.6 percent to 7.2 percent. By comparison, that figure is 6.5 percent in Germany and 6.4 percent in Portugal.