Italy Was Once The Epicentre Of The Coronavirus. But A Report Says It’s Far Too Early To Lift Lockdown Restrictions.

Lifting all coronavirus restrictions to pre-lockdown levels would overwhelm Italy's intensive care unit capacity within a month, according to modelling by the group of experts that advises the Italian government. The technical scientific committee (CTS) estimates there would be a peak of more than 150,000 people requiring admission to ICUs by June if daily life returned to how it was pre-crisis, with the total figure surpassing 430,000 by the end of the year. The CTS report, which was published by major Italian media outlets this week, lays out three baseline and 46 detailed scenarios assessing the rate of transmission of the virus in different areas of the economy, places of social contact, and age groups, as well as the impact of factors such as social distancing and the use of face masks.