Ravaged by first wave, Italy ill-prepared as second COVID assault hits

One month ago, the World Health Organization posted a video praising Italians’ “strong and effective response” to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, Italy had one of the lowest infection rates in the Western world and appeared to have learnt the lessons of the first wave, which killed more people than anywhere else in Europe except Britain. Now it appears that Italy, ahead of the rest of Europe when COVID-19 arrived, was simply behind the curve when it roared back as summer ended. New cases are rising at record rates, hitting 31,758 on Oct. 31 against around 2,500 at the start of the month, while deaths are up tenfold to more than 200 a day.