Andrew Bolt: Why coronavirus alarmists were wrong about Italy
When politicians saw hundreds of Italians dying each day from coronavirus they panicked and thought we were headed the same way. So what explains the dramatic difference in the death toll between Australia and Italy, asks Andrew Bolt.
Andrew Bolt
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Why aren’t Australians dying from the coronavirus like the Italians are? The question is important because it was Italy that really made our politicians panic.
They saw hundreds of Italians dying each day, and even this week ABC health presenter Norman Swan warned, “We are going to be where Italy was.”
Wrong.
In fact, it’s now 28 days since our first death, and Australia’s death toll is just 20. But in the 28 days since Italy’s first death more than 1800 died.
So what explains this dramatic difference?
It is too soon to know for sure, but here are some clues why we are not hit as hard as Italy.
ITALIANS ARE OLDER
Coronavirus overwhelmingly kills the old. That makes the virus particularly lethal in Italy, where the median age is 45. In Australia, it’s 37.
ITALIANS SMOKE MORE
Coronavirus kills by being transmitted to your mouth or nose before destroying lungs. A study in Wuhan, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, says smokers tended to need more intensive care. Italian men are twice as likely to smoke as Australian men.
ITALIANS HAVE MORE DIABETES
The coronavirus is more dangerous to diabetics. In Italy, 5.3 per cent of people have diabetes; in Australia, 4.9.
ITALIANS MAY BE MORE DRUG RESISTANT
Overuse of antibiotics can make them less effective. Italians get 28.3 prescriptions per 1000 people every day. In Australia it’s 23.4.
OLD ITALIANS ARE MORE EXPOSED
More grandparents live with their children, and nearly a third mind their grandchildren. This makes them more exposed to infection.
ITALIANS LIVE CLOSER TOGETHER
Italians live more on top of each other, which also helps spread infections. In Italy, 25 per cent of people live in semi-detached houses; in Australia it’s half that.
ITALIANS ARE BIGGER HUGGERS
In fact, when China was first hit by the virus, the Mayor of Florence urged people to “hug a Chinese” to fight racism.
ITALIAN HOSPITALS AREN’T AS GOOD
From Allianz Care, an insurance company: “While the standard of public hospitals in Italy is generally adequate there are some state hospitals that fall well below the standards that some expats would be accustomed to.”
WE HAD A HEAD START
Italians started dying more than three weeks before we did.
Conclusion: pity Italy, but don’t listen to the panic merchants. That will not be us.