A new surge in coronavirus and influenza cases is straining Italian hospitals, with more than 1,100 patients recovering in facilities in Rome and Lazio region, according to Italian news outlets and media outlets. He says he is waiting.
The official data comes from SIMEU, the Italian Association for Emergency Medicine and Emergency Care, which notes that the recent peak of coronavirus infections at the end of 2023 and the explosive increase in influenza cases are putting unbearable pressure on the health of the capital and region. It is reported that it is being added. system.
The number of cases in the region is more than double that in the northern region of Piedmont (500), showing how Lazio and Rome are struggling to find space for people in need of medical care.
But the problem is widespread. In Lombardy, where Milan is located, regular collections have been suspended due to overcrowding. Hundreds of people were reportedly stuck in emergency departments while waiting for treatment. The region became the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the country in early 2020.
On January 3, Italian news agency ANSA reported that hospitals in Naples were also overwhelmed by the number of positive coronavirus patients. According to Lab24, a platform organized by an Italian newspaper company, Il sole 24 oreIn the week from December 21 to 27, the number of new coronavirus infections in Italy was 40,990, -32.2% compared to the previous week, and the number of deaths was 279.
The number of people who received intensive care and recovered increased by 1.8% compared to the previous week.
The increase in hospitalizations appears to be associated with an increase in respiratory illnesses, especially among older people. At the same time that the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading again, a flu-like illness is spreading.
“Something very strange is happening in Italy,” epidemiologist Eric Feigl Ding wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s strange,” he said.
“Descriptions of the hospital crisis in multiple Italian/EU media outlets are serious and are occurring not only in isolated hospitals, but also in several major Italian cities, including Rome, Turin, and Milan,” Feigldin said. I mentioned it in a later post. “The entire city appears to be overwhelmed with influenza and coronavirus respiratory infections.”
newsweek Feigl-Ding and SIMEU were contacted for comment via email on Thursday.
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Two local Lazio officials who toured several facilities in Rome on Tuesday said they saw ambulances parked in front of ERs and used as extra beds for patients, Rome Today reported. , said the facility was found to be overcrowded.
They argued that the current complicated situation in the capital and region is due to a chronic shortage of medical staff and delays in coronavirus vaccination. SIMEU president Fabio de Iaco told an Italian newspaper. Il Fat Quotidiano Many doctors in Italy say they were unable to take time off during the Christmas holidays to keep up with demand for treatment over the same period.
The current crisis has also been exacerbated by a recent fire that struck a hospital in Tivoli, about 27 miles from Rome. A fire at San Giovanni Evangelista Hospital on December 9 killed three people and left 450,000 people without access to the facility.
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