In Italy, could have at least infected six Times as many people with the Coronavirus, as was previously assumed. This was the result of a comprehensive investigation undertaken by the Red cross in the order of the Ministry of health and the national Institute of statistics in Rome from mid-may to mid-July. After that, were found in Tests of around 65,000 people, which were selected according to age, place of residence and professional representative in the country to average at 2.5 per cent of the subjects had antibody against the Sars-Cov2-Virus.
Matthias Rüb
Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta, based in Rome.
F. A. Z.
According to projections, the authors of the study arises from the fact that well-1,48 million of the approximately 60 million inhabitants of Italian were infected with the Coronavirus, or have come into contact. According to official Figures of the health authorities so far, well 248.000 people have been confirmed with the Coronavirus. Approximately, a total of 35,200 people died of the Virus caused Covid-19-pulmonary disease.
In the investigation of strong regional differences were found, the prevalence in the population. Thus, in Lombardy, where nearly half of all nationwide deaths was recorded, 7.5 percent of the ten million inhabitants infected with the Virus. Also within the economically strong and densely populated Northern Italian Region, there were significant differences.
In the city of Bergamo and the surrounding area were found in 24 percent of the subjects had antibody. In the neighbouring Crema, it was 19 percent, in the nearby province of Pavia but only 5.1 percent. In the Region of Veneto, where at the end of February at the same time with the neighboring region of Lombardy, the first Covid-19-diseases registered were, was the prevalence rate of only 1.9 percent. On the island of Sicily, were found in only 0.3 percent of the subjects had antibody. In principle, a strong North-South gradient in the case of the infections of The to the North determine: where the Virus circulated, apparently for months, undetected, before the first infections were detected, shows a significantly higher infection rate than the largely spared the South.
In the study, 27 percent of people with anti-had antibodies no symptoms, so this spread seems to be the Virus, without knowing it. The infection rate among medical staff was about five per cent, twice as high as in the total population. The anti-body study also shows that the mortality rate was less than 2.5 percent and not 14 percent, as, on the basis of the detected infections in the ratio of the registered deaths had been.
in the opinion of Franco Locatelli, the President of the National Institute of health, proves the study that the national Lockdown of March had been to may “absolutely Central”, in order to prevent a spread of the Virus in the South. This assessment, of course, contradicts the finding that the Virus has not circulated, apparently since no later than December undetected in Lombardy and especially in the provinces of Bergamo and Crema, that it wandered, but to a significant extent to the South, although the national curfew only on 10. March was imposed.
