At Least 23 Italian Doctors Have Already Died Because of Coronavirus

• The numbers are getting higher, as more and more people are getting infected.
• Shortage of protective gear such as masks and gowns are an alarming concern.
• Doctors are forced to choose whom to prioritize when giving medical care.

Having doctors and nurses dying because of the coronavirus just makes the situation even more heartbreaking. In this case, the disease served as a great equalizer – the medical staff are as helpless as the patients that they are treating.

As of March 24, 2020, there are already 23 doctors who have died in Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries since the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, the numbers are getting higher, as more and more people are getting infected each day.

Health care workers are at a higher risk due to greater exposure.

19 of the 23 doctors who died worked in the Lombardy region, the worst-hit region in the country. The others worked in Marche, Emilia Romagna, and Naples.

According to the latest report by the Italian federation of doctors, around 4,824 health workers have been infected by COVID-19. The Federazione Nazionale degli Ordini dei Medici Chirurghi e degli Odontoiatri (FNOMCeO) has already listed the names of all doctors and surgeons who have died during the pandemic.

Hospitals and ICUs are hopelessly full and overrun.

Based on the harrowing experience in China and Italy, healthcare workers who are serving as frontliners have a higher risk of getting infected and are more likely to experience worse symptoms because of their higher level of exposure. The shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns are also a primary concern.

Makeshift wards are made because hospitals are already full.

General practitioner Marcello Natali, who is 57, was the one who sounded the alarm on the shortage of medical supplies. He died on March 18.

Shortly before his death, Natali was interviewed by Euronews, where he disclosed that he was forced to work without protective gloves because there is no supply.

The country struggles to bury the dead due to the overwhelming number of deaths.

Italy currently has close to 64,000 confirmed COVID-19cases, with 6,077 deaths. Hospitals are hopelessly overrun and medics are forced to choose which patients will be prioritized for treatment. The number of deaths in the country are already more than the number officially reported for the Hubei province in China, where the virus was first discovered.