According to official information, Italy recorded the highest number of deaths since the Second World War in the 2020 pandemic year. In total, there were 746,146 deaths in the previous year – more than 15 percent more than the average for the years 2015 to 2019, the statistical office ISTAT in Rome announced today.
After the first major coronavirus wave hit the country with a population of 60 million at the end of February 2020, the experts also determined the excess mortality for the months of March to December. According to the information, a good 20 percent more people died in this phase than the average between 2015 and 2019. That was more than 108,000 deaths. However, this value does not mean that this was the number of additional direct Covid 19 victims. Experts had previously pointed out that the number of deaths could also have increased, among other things due to the overloading of the hospital system.
In Italy, the Ministry of Health has counted a total of around three million people who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
