Italian medical officer has died *edited by MNHQ*

[NellyGrace]

www.standard.co.uk/news/world/italy-medical-chief-dies-death-toll-coronavirus-covid19-a4386356.html

[onalongsabbatical]

Well in a time of so many shocks most of them hardly register, that is truly shocking.

[WinterCat]

I have relatives in Italy. What’s happening is such a worry.

[ChrissieKeller61]

Shit

[bumblingbovine49]

Shit indeed!

That says he died after contracting the virus at the weekend. That is very quick! Less than a week from contracting it to dying.

[22Giraffes]

Doesn't send a hopeful message does it

[PatchworkElmer]

This is really scary news.

I’m waiting for someone to pop up and say ‘lots of people have died of it, calm down’ though...

[givemushypeasachance]

Not minimising, but to fact check: he was not the "chief medical officer of Italy". He was a primary care doctor, a GP, who was also President of the Medical Association of Varese, a city in the North of Italy. He was caring for patients but got infected and was admitted to hospital himself on 6 March. And he died on Tuesday 10 March, it's just getting wider reporting now. Probably a lot because of the assumption that "medical chief" means the top doctor in the country, rather than a doctor who holds an administrative position in something like the Italian regional GMC.

[calllaaalllaaammma]

Roberto Stella, age 67.
Had it less than a week, and you would have expected him to be getting a very good standard of care, considering who he was.

[wontletmelogin]

I’m on a forum for nurses, one of them is working in Italy and expressed her concerns at the UKs seeming lack of interest. Their intensive care units are overflowing, there are YOUNG sick people who are normally very fit and well. It’s not just the elderly and unwell at high risk..

[Loppy10]

Part of the reason why BoJo's master plan to bring back recently retired staff is so ridiculous. This guy was 67, contracted the disease at the weekend and died within 7 days. Who would volunteer to come back now? Especially when we can't get hold of face masks or other PPE for our existing staff

[givemushypeasachance]

Just because he was a doctor, doesn't mean he couldn't have had other underlying health conditions. My brother in law is a consultant and has asthma, which is thankfully well managed. There are plenty of doctors with diabetes or who have had cancer treatment, or who are just in their late sixties and smoke. Plus there have been debates about the higher rates of healthcare workers dying in the early China figures means that getting exposed to a bigger viral load means worse symptoms.

[80sMum]

... intensive care units are overflowing, there are YOUNG sick people who are normally very fit and well. It’s not just the elderly and unwell at high risk

Unfortunately, some very difficult decisions lie ahead for the health care providers. They will have to essentially choose who lives (gets treatment) and who dies (isn't given treatment because it has to be rationed). How do you choose the criteria for making those decisions? By age? By chronological order of admission? By number of co-morbidities? Likelihood of survival if treated? Which?

[NellyGrace]

www.itv.com/news/2020-03-11/italy-doctors-coronavirus-covid-19-quarantine-milan-health/

If you scroll down this page there is an audio of two Italian doctors describing the current situation in Italy.

[AmICrazyorWhat2]

Just my opinion, but I expect he was working flat out trying to treat patients and not taking care of himself. People in the medical profession are often overworked and not looking after themselves, especially in a time of crisis. Poor man.

[forrasee]

Not minimising, but to fact check: he was not the "chief medical officer of Italy". He was a primary care doctor, a GP, who was also President of the Medical Association of Varese, a city in the North of Italy.

I popped on to say this. Doesn't make his death less sad but he was not the CMO of Italy.

[Poppydaisies]

Wow! He was only 67 and would probably have records best care! How sad.

[Poppydaisies]

Sorry received

[FredaFrogspawn]

Are doctors more at risk than other people who get the virus as they have more exposure?

[64sNewName]

Bloody hell

[NellyGrace]

Italian doctors are all very clear that every single one of us is at risk. This virus is potentially lethal to all of us - young, hold, sick, healthy.

[lentenwonder]

You’ve got to think people like doctors working long hours, and exposed more are more at risk. 67 is no great age, poor man. I wonder at the plans to get doctors out of retirement - not great odds for them.

[HattieMid2]

That audio clip is terrifying. I'm trying so hard to stay calm and be careful etc. But hearing things like this just makes me want to hibernate.
I'm currently working in central London and it really is business as usual. So frightening 😢

[SirVixofVixHall]

“Not intubating people over 60”
Why are our government driving us into this when they have had warning ? Those sixty year olds in Italy would normally expect to live for another two or three decades. If I get to sixty I will still have one child in school. Even the very elderly in Italy might have otherwise had years left to live. People are dying from lack of equipment. This is what an overwhelmed health service looks like, and yet we are supposed to feel fine about being used as collateral damage to achieve “herd immunity.

[NellyGrace]

Yes - I"m sorry to post this. But also feel we need to be prepared and awake to what is happening here.

The government is doing nothing to protect us from this. We need to be aware of what is coming so that we can protect ourselves.

[BookMeOnTheSudExpress]

Also just comjng on to say "he looked alright on the news"

The British press needs a better translator and to stop cherry picking what they consider are most likely stories to shock and get the clicks.