Italian nurse says ‘we're not even counting the dead anymore’ as Italy passes China’s death toll

A nurse working on the frontline of Italy's coronavirus outbreak has warned that the coronavirus had pushed heath workers to their limit as they deal with a rapidly increasing death toll.

A total 427 deaths were registered in Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide tally to 3,405 since the outbreak surfaced on February 21. China has recorded 3,245 deaths since early January.

Lombardy, the heavily populated area around the financial capital Milan, has been Italy's worst-affected region.

"Unfortunately we can’t contain the situation in Lombardy, there's a high level of contagion and were not even counting the dead anymore," Daniela Confalonieri, a nurse in a Milan hospital, told Reuters on Thursday.

Confalonieri, who works as a nurse in a Milan hospital, said that staff were working in a “situation of total emergency” as co-workers testing positive for the virus had left the hospital severely understaffed.

Underscoring the scale of the drama, soldiers transported bodies overnight from the northern town of Bergamo, northeast of Milan, whose cemetery has been overwhelmed, according to reports.

An army spokesman said 15 trucks and 50 soldiers had been deployed to move coffins to neighboring provinces. 

"Look at the news that's coming out of Italy and take note of what the situation really is like. It's unimaginable," said the Milan nurse, Confalonieri.

Police checks

Italy went into virtual lockdown before other countries in Europe but, with cases still rising, the government is considering even tougher measures that would further restrict the limited amount of outdoor movement currently permitted.

Luca Zaia, governor of the Veneto region neighboring Lombardy, demanded stronger curbs from Rome, including closing all shops on Sunday, and said if they were not passed, he would consider passing a regional decree.

"I hope there will soon be measures to restrict people jogging or going out for walks. I'm sorry about that, but the alternative is intensive care, hospitalization and contagion," he said.

At the other end of the country, in Sicily, the regional governor said the army would now help police make spot checks to ensure only people with legitimate reasons were out.

Police across Italy have stopped more than 1.2 million people over the past week and booked some 51,000 for violating the rules, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

While the virus has begun spreading rapidly across Europe, Italy remains the second most heavily affected country in the world after China, where the illness first emerged, and the rising number of deaths have shown no signs of slowing.

Officials and experts believe the total number of infections here is significantly higher, with testing largely limited to those arriving for hospital care. The country's large, elderly population, who are particularly vulnerable to the virus, is also seen as factor for the high number of fatalities.

(Source: Reuters)

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