More than 100 doctors have now died in Italy's coronavirus outbreak
The Local/AFP - [email protected]
Published: 9 Apr, 2020 CET.
Updated: Thu 9 Apr 2020 12:24 CET
The coronavirus death toll among Italian doctors reached 100 on Thursday as four more physicians died in the past 24 hours, the Italian doctors' federation FNOMCEO said.
"The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100 - perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately," a FNOMCeO spokesman told AFP.
Italian media reports estimate that 30 nurses and nursing assistance have
also died of COVID-19.
The toll includes retired doctors who had voluntarily returned to work during the outbreak.
They were among some 8,000 medical staff to volunteer last month for an emergency coronavirus task force.
Some hospitals in Lombardy and other badly-hit areas are struggling with half as many staff as needed to treat the number of patients being admitted, Il Messeggero reported.
According to the offical list most of these victims worked in and around Lombardy, the region at the centre of the Italian outbreak - although doctors have also died further south in Le Marche, Campania, Sicily and Puglia.
READ ALSO:
In total 13,121 healthcare workers have contracted the new coronavirus in Italy, according to the latest count by the Italian Higher Health Institute (ISS).
"We can longer allow our doctors, our health workers, to be sent to fight without any protection against the virus," FNOMCeO president Filippo Anelli said on the association's website.
Rome's ISS public health institute estimates that 10 percent of those infected with the novel coronavirus in Italy work in health care.
Italy's total official death toll is at 17,669 as of Thursday evening.
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"The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100 - perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately," a FNOMCeO spokesman told AFP.
Italian media reports estimate that 30 nurses and nursing assistance have
also died of COVID-19.
The toll includes retired doctors who had voluntarily returned to work during the outbreak.
They were among some 8,000 medical staff to volunteer last month for an emergency coronavirus task force.
Some hospitals in Lombardy and other badly-hit areas are struggling with half as many staff as needed to treat the number of patients being admitted, Il Messeggero reported.
According to the offical list most of these victims worked in and around Lombardy, the region at the centre of the Italian outbreak - although doctors have also died further south in Le Marche, Campania, Sicily and Puglia.
READ ALSO:
In total 13,121 healthcare workers have contracted the new coronavirus in Italy, according to the latest count by the Italian Higher Health Institute (ISS).
"We can longer allow our doctors, our health workers, to be sent to fight without any protection against the virus," FNOMCeO president Filippo Anelli said on the association's website.
Rome's ISS public health institute estimates that 10 percent of those infected with the novel coronavirus in Italy work in health care.
Italy's total official death toll is at 17,669 as of Thursday evening.
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