2020-02-22

Italy Becomes First Western Country with Major Coronavirus Outbreak

DW: Italy reports first deaths, South Korea sees cases double

EuroNews: Italy puts 10 towns on lockdown after two people die of coronavirus
There are at least 32 cases in Codogno, Lombardy, and seven in Veneto, report AFP, quoting Sky Italia television. Many of the new cases represented the first infections in Italy acquired through secondary contagion.

Eight of the cases came at the same hospital in Codogno. A 38-year-old man was hospitalised there and his wife and a friend have also contracted it. Five medical staff, including nurses and doctors, have also tested positive.
Numbers change quickly, but there was a report on February 21, 2020 saying six of the cases in Italy were severe. To this point, initial researched showed Asians and male were more susceptible because of ACE-2 receptors in the lungs. If this remains true, the risk of an outbreak in the West is lower because there may be a lower infection rate, and fewer severe cases. That would be good news for much of the world, but also for the global economy because it might mean strict quarantines will not be necessary across the globe. The outbreak in Italy threatens this assumption.

The stock market has largely ignored coronavirus to this point, and it ignored the Italy news that broke hours before the Friday close. We'll see what Monday brings.

No comments:

Post a Comment