As Italy scrambles to stem the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), figures show that health workers who are in the frontline is at enormous are facing a high risk of getting infected by the virus.
According to a study published on Wednesday by Gruppo Italiano per la Medicina Basata sulle Evidenze (GIMBE), around 2,629 health workers contracted the virus while treating patients due to a shortage of adequate equipment and protective gear in the most affected country in Europe.
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It represents 8 percent of confirmed cases in Italy, another blow to the already exhausted healthcare system of the Mediterranean country.
According to a Reuters report, nurses and medical staff are struggling to cope with the increasing number of patients, long hours and soaring numbers of sickness in their own ranks.
“We’re working in a state of very high stress and tension,” Daniela Confalonieri, a nurse working at a hospital in Milan said.
The health care system of Italy is being stretched to its extent by the contagion and currently on the brink of collapse as public hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
“Look at the news that’s coming out of Italy and take note of what the situation really is like. It’s unimaginable.”
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Italy placed its 60 million residents under nationwide lockdown on March 10 to curb the spread of the virus, but it seems ineffective as the country overtook China’s death toll with more than 4,000 fatalities as of Friday.
This has prompted Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to strengthen and extend stricter near-total lockdown until early May.
