Italy scene 03 "is more tragic than the war. Novel coronavirus kills ordinary people and hugs have become a luxury, and the patient dies alone."

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There were long lines of ambulances in front of the hospital, and the flickering warning lights were unsettling. The military trucks carrying coffins, like pythons crawling in the dark, move restlessly in the depths of their souls.

In the last two weeks, death has claimed more than 500 lives in Provincia di Bergamo province, with crematoria operating 24 hours a day, working overtime on weekends and Sundays, and coffins still filled with hospital morgues, funeral parlors and churches in cemeteries. The funeral service was overburdened, and in order to bury the dead as soon as possible, the government sent troops to send the coffins to the surrounding cities for cremation.

The death toll has greatly increased, and the obituary notices of the city office have been pasted all over the wall (Photography / Zheng Jieyi) when death lingers for a long time, the death toll has soared.

Novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is rampant, and the figures released by the Italian Civil Defense Ministry every evening are frightening, and the death toll across the country has passed the 5, 000 mark. Bergamo's Lombardy region (Lombardia) has a severe epidemic, with more than 3, 000 deaths and rising.

The people go to the dead in fear, the spring is still brilliant, and they don't care about the suffering of the world at all. Spring God came, there are birds singing, flowers news, the arrival of death, but silent. Seeing relatives and friends passing away one after another, Bergamo woke up, and death has been lingering around for a long time.

On February 20, Italy discovered the first case of local infection, novel coronavirus, which has been spreading outside the epidemic prevention net for several weeks. Patient number one in the small town of Codogno on the Po River Plain has attracted global attention, tracking the marathons he has run, the football matches he has played, and the parties he has attended. The government urgently designated the surrounding cities as red alert zones, hoping to stop the virus.

It's too late. The virus has spread from the plains to the valley. After a month, nearly 60,000 people have been diagnosed in Italy (including more than 7,000 cured), nearly half of whom are from the Lombardy region. The administrative level of Bergamo province is like Taiwan's "county." it has jurisdiction over 243 cities, including the capital city of Bergamo, with a total population of 1.1 million, covering an area of 2700 square kilometers, from the end of the Po River Plain to the valley of the Alps tributary. it has become the worst epidemic area in Italy. About 6, 000 people were diagnosed and nearly 1, 000 died as a result of novel coronavirus.

The Italian government closed the city at the end of February, but the virus has spread from the plains to the valleys (Photo / Zheng Jieyi) the official number is staggering, but the actual death toll is even higher.

The official figures are staggering, but the actual number of infections and deaths is even higher. "these figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, many elderly people have died at home or in nursing homes. They have not been tested by novel coronavirus." Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori pointed out.

Nembro, located in the Val Seriana, is the first city to report novel coronavirus in Bergamo province. Of the more than 10, 000 citizens, about 120 have died since the beginning of March, compared with 14 in the same period last year.

Not only is the mayor in charge of death registration aware of the extraordinary death toll, but the obituary section of the local newspaper Bergamo Echo (L'Eco di Bergamo) has grown rapidly from two or three pages to 10 or 12 pages. Some of the deceased are centenarians, and many are over 80 years old, but the virus has not spared the middle-aged.

Claudio Polzoni, the gendarmerie of Bergamo, asked for leave at home earlier to help his father-in-law catch novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, he also contracted the virus after his father-in-law died. After the loss of two relatives, Bozoni's wife said: "when my father got sick, I was psychologically prepared to accept his death because he had a serious heart attack." But my husband is only 46 years old, strong and without any illness, and I don't even have a chance to say goodbye to him. "

The official figures are staggering, but the actual death toll in Bergamo may be higher (Photo / Zheng Jieyi) many elderly people suffering from chronic diseases are infected with the virus, driving up the case fatality rate

The case fatality rate of novel coronavirus in Italy is as high as 9%, far exceeding the 3.8% estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the reasons is that after testing for asymptomatic and mild patients at the beginning, in the face of explosive cases, Italian tests are now mainly aimed at the seriously ill. However, this also underestimates the number of infections. When estimating the case fatality rate, the denominator becomes smaller, the mortality rate increases, and the death probability of these critically diagnosed patients is also high.

According to the latest statistics from the National Institutes of Health (ISS), the average age of novel coronavirus's deceased in Italy is nearly 80. Half of the dead already have more than three diseases. Novel coronavirus is not the only cause of death. And some studies have pointed out that some hypertension drugs reduce the immunity of patients, it is difficult to resist novel coronavirus.

"France and Spain, which have a high number of deaths, adopt the same statistical method as we do. as long as the dead test positive, they will be listed as novel coronavirus's deceased. On the other hand, in Germany, it is necessary to confirm that novel coronavirus is the only cause of death. According to this standard, the death of novel coronavirus in Italy may also be reduced to a few hundred. " Carlo Signorelli, a public health expert, explained.

In any case, nearly 260000 people have been sampled in Italy since the outbreak, almost just below South Korea in the world. In a month, about 5, 000 deaths were related to novel coronavirus, which is still a cruel fact.

With 23% of the population over 65 years old, Italy is facing a major test.

There are various assumptions about high mortality, but in the face of unpredictable viruses, there is too little evidence. There is no denying that Italy, which accounts for 23% of the population over the age of 65, is vulnerable to the virus. However, compared with South Korea, China and Japan, the proportion of elderly people in Italy is relatively high, which may be related to close family relationships and social habits. Parents live with adult children, grandparents often help take care of their grandchildren, and young and strong people may inadvertently become communicators of the virus.

Most of the dead in Italy are elderly men, and many of them are heavy smokers, and their deteriorated lung function makes it more difficult for them to cope with novel coronavirus's attack. According to the analysis of the gene sequence, novel coronavirus mutated in Italy, which some doctors speculated, thus making the virus more deadly, but more research is needed.

Worse than the war, novel coronavirus killed ordinary people without blinking an eye.

Page after page of obituaries in the newspaper is like a list of martyrs in the war, but the invisible killer of the virus is more cruel than knives, guns and ammunition, killing civilians without blinking an eye.

Karim Rachedi and Nadir Rachedi are both military surgeons who have traveled to Afghanistan, Libya and Lebanon, as well as to Wuhan to pick up feverish Italian students in biological compartments. Both brothers were then sent to hospitals in epidemic areas of Italy to support the shaky health care system.

An hour after they arrived, they called their relatives and friends and advised them not to go out. "I'm afraid it's hard for you to understand, but even in Afghanistan, we've never seen anything like this." Overseas, we deal with military tasks, but here, destructive enemies specialize in civilians, patients deteriorate, doctors and nurses are exhausted, and fortunately, we are still full of the spirit of mutual assistance. "

People and businesses in Bergamo, in addition to donating money to support medical workers fighting at the front, also deliver hot pizzas every day. Nadir said: "unexpectedly, several people went to the Netherlands to buy a tomography scan."