LIVE SCIENCE – 03/10/2020: Outside of China, Italy is the country that has most victims that succumbed to COVID-19. In recent days this number grew to 463. If you didn’t know, there are 9,172 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy. The death rate is extremely high, but do you know why?
According to the World Health Organization, the average death rate for this virus is 3.4% on the global level. In Italy, this number exceeds 5%. It is much higher than the worldwide average, but there’s an explanation.
The primary factor why things are the way they are in this European country is the age of the population. Italy has the oldest community on the Old Continent. According to the New York Times, Italy has 23% of its population aged sixty-five or more.
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In Italy, the median age is 47.3. If you compare this to America’s 38.3, you will see that the difference is almost ten years. The people who died in this European country are all in their eighties or nineties. The population that is most affected by this virus are older adults.
Because of this, it is no wonder that Italy was the most affected European country by the coronavirus outbreak. At the moment, more than 42,000 people have been tested in Italy for coronavirus. As the virus spreads, more people will be affected, but more are getting tested as we speak.
With every passing day as the virus spreads, more people are taking precautions and are lowering the chances of being affected. With more tests conducted, there will be cases discovered with mild symptoms of coronavirus, and they will be easily cured. With more cases resolved in the early stages, the death rate will get lower.
As of yesterday, all public gatherings and sports events are canceled across Italy, as the country looks to control the outbreak of coronavirus.
Source: livescience.com
Nina Smith 