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4 May 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Death toll in Italy much higher than previously thought

By Samir Jeraj

The death toll in Italy from the coronvirus pandemic is double previously thought, according to the Italian stastitics bureau (ISTAT). They looked at the number of deaths compared to the average over the previous five years and found 11, 600 unexplained deaths compared to 13, 710 officially attributed to COVID19. ISTAT said it was likely these unexplained deaths were likely to be both directly as a result of an undiagnosed coronavirus infection, and indirectly caused by the pressure on the Italian healthcare system. The pattern of these deaths mirrored the impact of the coronavirus, concentrated on northern Italy. The finding raise the disturbing possibility that the death tolls in other badly-hit countries could also be considerably higher. 

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