A new surge of COVID-19 infections and flu cases is burdening Italian hospitals, with more than 1,100 patients waiting to recover in facilities in Rome and the region of Lazio, according to Italian news media and organizations.
The official information comes from SIMEU, the Italian Society for Emergency Medicine and Emergency Care, which reported that a recent surge in COVID-19 infections at the end of 2023 and an explosion in flu cases have added unbearable pressure on the health of the capital and the region’s system.
The number of patients in the region is more than double that of the northern region of Piedmont (500), showing how Lazio and Rome are struggling to find a place for those who want medical care.
But the challenge is widespread: in the Lombardy region, where Milan is located, recoveries have been suspended due to overcrowding. Hundreds more are reported to have been trapped in emergency departments awaiting treatment. The region was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 crises in the country at the beginning of 2020.
On Jan. 3, Italian news agency ANSA wrote that hospitals in Naples were also overwhelmed by the number of COVID-19 positive patients. According to Lab24, a platform organized through the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, there were 40,990 new COVID cases. -19 in Italy in the week of December 21-27, a minimum of 32. 2% compared to last week, and 279 deaths.
The number of people recovered in intensive therapy was up 1.8 percent compared to the previous week.
The increase in hospitalizations appears to be related to the increase in respiratory illnesses, especially among the elderly. Flu-like illnesses are spreading just as COVID-19 cases are returning.
Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said on X, formerly Twitter, that “something is happening in Italy. Italian scientists are baffled by the increase in emergency rooms in hospitals, even calling them Array. “
“The description of the hospital crisis from multiple Italian / EU outlets is severe and occurring in multiple major cities in Italy – Rome, Turin, Milan… not just in isolated hospitals,” Feigl-Ding said in a later post. “Entire cities are overwhelmed by the respiratory cases of flu and COVID it seems.”
Newsweek reached out to Feigl-Ding and SIMEU for comment via email Thursday.
Two Lazio regional officials who went to inspect some facilities in Rome on Tuesday said they found the places crowded, with ambulances parked outside emergency rooms being used as extra beds for patients, Rome Today reported.
The two men blamed the complex scenario in the capital and the region on chronic shortages of medical workers and delays in COVID-19 vaccinations. SIMEU President Fabio De Iaco told Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano that many doctors in Italy were unable to take time off from the Christmas holidays to attend to the call for care in the same period.
The current crisis is also aggravated by a recent fire that hit a hospital in Tivoli, about 27 kilometers from Rome. The fire that devastated the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital on Dec. 9 killed three more people and left 450,000 unusable at the facility.
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek journalist based in London, UK. It focuses on politics, global affairs, and U. S. housing. He extensively covered the ups and downs of the U. S. housing market. He provided insight into the ongoing war in Ukraine. . Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and in the past worked at the European Central Bank. He graduated from Nottingham Trent University. Languages: English, Italian, French.
Giulia can be reached by emailing g. carbonaro@newsweek. com.