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Review
. 2020 Jul;22(1):20-32.
doi: 10.3892/mmr.2020.11079. Epub 2020 Apr 16.

COVID‑19 in Northern Italy: An integrative overview of factors possibly influencing the sharp increase of the outbreak (Review)

Marina Goumenou #  1 , Dimosthenis Sarigiannis #  2 , Aristidis Tsatsakis #  1 , Ourania Anesti  1 , Anca Oana Docea  3 , Dimitrios Petrakis  1 , Dimitris Tsoukalas  4 , Ronald Kostoff  5 , Valeri Rakitskii  6 , Demetrios A Spandidos  7 , Michael Aschner  8 , Daniela Calina  9
Affiliations
Review

COVID‑19 in Northern Italy: An integrative overview of factors possibly influencing the sharp increase of the outbreak (Review)

Marina Goumenou et al. Mol Med Rep. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Italy is currently one of the countries seriously affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic. As per 10 April 2020, 147,577 people were found positive in a total of 906,864 tests performed and 18,849 people lost their lives. Among all cases, 70.2% of positive, and 79.4% of deaths occurred in the provinces of Northern Italy (Lombardi, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte), where the outbreak first started. Originally, it was considered that the high number of positive cases and deaths in Italy resulted from COVID‑19 initially coming to Italy from China, its presumed country of origin. However, an analysis of the factors that played a role in the extent of this outbreak is needed. Evaluating which factors could be specific for a country and which might contribute the most is nevertheless complex, with accompanying high uncertainty. The purpose of this work is to discuss some of the possible contributing factors and their possible role in the relatively high infection and death rates in Northern Italy compared to other areas and countries.

Keywords: coVid-19; SarS-coV-2; coronavirus; risk factors; italy; pandemic diseases; public health.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Monitoring of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths in Italy from 15 February to 9 April 2020 (2).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Infection curves (cumulative of positives) of the provinces of Lombardy region (7).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The timeline of measures taken in Italy during the evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Copernicus Sentinel-2 image of Po Valley, Northern Italy (43).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Concentrations of PM10, 2017 - daily limit value (44).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Concentrations of PM2.5, 2017 - annual limit value (44).
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Cumulative cases of COVID-19 in various countries (48).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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