Why have many coronavirus patients died in Italy?

The country's high death toll is due to an ageing population, overstretched health system and the way fatalities are reported.

Of the 47,000 people confirmed coronavirus patients in Italy, 4,032 so far have died - with a record increase of 627 in the last 24 hours.

By contrast china has almost twice as many cases ,81,250, but 3,253 fatalities

In very crude terms, this means that around eight per cent of confirmed coronavirus patients have died in Italy, compared to four per cent in China. By this measure Germany, which has so far identified 13,000 cases and 42 deaths, has a fatality rate of just 0.3 percent.

So Why the disparity?

According to Prof Walter Ricciardi, scientific adviser to Italy’s minister of health, the country’s mortality rate is far higher due to demographics - the nation has the second oldest population worldwide - and the manner in which hospitals record deaths.

Country	cases	deaths	%age	Median age
china	81,303	3,259	4	67
Italy	47,021	4,032	8	46
Spain	21,571	1,093	5
Iran	20,610	1,556	7.5
Germany	20,046	69	0.3
USA	19,774	275	1.4
France	12,632	450	3.5
South ko	8,799	102	1
uK	3,983	177	4

A study in JAMA this week found that almost 40 per cent of infections and 87 per cent of deaths in the country have been in patients over 70 years old.