Coronavirus Update: Over 60 Doctors Have Died In Italy Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

Italy, the worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic by far, has lost over 60 doctors and other healthcare professionals, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

As mentioned by Medscape Medical News, the country’s National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists has been updated daily and it lists the clinicians who have died during the coronavirus epidemic.

“Our doctors have been sent to war unarmed. The dead do not make a noise. Yet, the names of our dead friends, our colleagues, put here in black and white, make a deafening noise. It is reasonable to assume that these events would have been largely avoidable if health workers had been correctly informed and equipped with sufficient adequate personal protective equipment: masks, gloves, disposable gowns, protective visors, which instead continue to be in short supply," the media outlet quoted Filippo Anelli, president of the federation.

Almost all the doctors who died were in northern Italy where the COVID-19 epidemic started. Four others were general practitioners (GPs) from Bermago- the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic I and another four GPs were in a town called Lodi from the same Lombardy region.

In total, about 38% of the doctors who have died were GPs -- the family doctors who would be the first line of defense for any sick patient. There were also specialists who would have been seeing the more severely ill patients in hospitals. The list of specialists includes pulmonologists, anesthesiologists, epidemiologists, and medical examiners and other doctors occupied in nursing homes.

Aside from that, several dentists and ophthalmologists have also died from the deadly coronavirus infection.

While most of the clinicians who died were in their 60s and 70s, a couple of them were between 49 and 55 years old.

The list didn’t specify if these doctors were working as physicians in treating the COVID-19 patients or whether they had retired. In Italy, the state pension begins at age 68 but doctors can decide when they want to retire. So, several physicians still continue to work even when they are 70 years or older, mentioned Medscape Medical News.

Another fact to note was that a majority of the deceased doctors were male, which reflects what has been reported for the overall coronavirus deaths in the country.