Italy fast-tracks new doctors as coronavirus deaths rise above 2500

Rome: Italy will rush 10,000 student doctors into service, scrapping their final exams, in an effort to help the struggling health service cope with the coronavirus which claimed another 345 lives.

The death toll rose to 2503 over the past 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the total number of confirmed cases increased to 31,506 from a previous 27,980 - the largest number outside China.

Sergio Cattaneo, head of anesthesiology at Brescia Ospedali Civili hospital, where there has been an outbreak of coronavirus.Credit: AP

Italy, the second hardest-hit nation after China in the world's coronavirus pandemic, has announced a new figures that show it has one-third of the world's total deaths from the new virus.

The crisis has pushed hospitals to breaking point at the epicentre of the contagion in northern Italy and left other regions scrambling to strengthen their own health systems as the number of infected rises nationwide.

"Lombardy is on the point of collapse. All the intensive care beds and respirators are being used," said Matteo Salvini, head of the League party which governs the wealthy region.

A potentially dangerous development is the rise in cases in the province of Milan, up by 343 in the last 24 hours to 2326. The 17 per cent rise compares with a much smaller increase of 11 per cent in Lombardy as a whole.

A giant image of a drawing by Venetian artist Franco Rivolli showing a doctor with wings on her back cradling Italy and writing in Italian reading "To all of you... Thank you!",Credit: AP

The epidemic has so far taken a relatively light toll on Italy's main cities, but there are now 964 confirmed cases in the densely populated financial capital which numbers 1.4 million residents.

Lombardy's health chief said it was vital that the Milanese strictly observe all the curbs on movement laid down by the government "to prevent the contagion growing much more strongly in a very populous area like Milan".

University Minister Gaetano Manfredi said the government would let this year's medicine graduates start work some eight or nine months ahead of schedule and waive the mandatory exams they normally sit before qualifying.

"This means immediately releasing into the National Health System the energy of about 10,000 doctors, which is fundamental to dealing with the shortage that our country is suffering," he said in a statement.

The graduates will be sent to work in general practitioners' clinics and at old peoples' homes, freeing up more experienced colleagues who will be sent to the rapidly filling hospitals.

In other coronavirus related news:

*The US is expected to spend around US$1 trillion ($1.7 trillion) to prop up its economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

*Britain has unveiled £330 billion ($670 billion) in loans for struggling businesses.

*Spain has requested medical supplies from China.

*New York City residents should be prepared for the possibility of a shelter-in- place order within days, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.

*The world's coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 185,000 people and killed more than 7300.

Over three weeks, 1135 people have needed intensive care in Lombardy, the northern region hardest hit. The region has only 800 intensive care beds, according to Giacomo Grasselli, head of the intensive care unit at Milan's Policlinico hospital.

Authorities have been working to set up hundreds of intensive care beds in a specially created facility in the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, but are still waiting for sufficient respirators and qualified personnel.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday he would donate €10 million euros ($18 million) to help equip the new centre, joining a growing list of wealthy Italians offering funds.

AP, Reuters