In this March 25, 2020 article written by Peter Andrews for RT, he explains why the computed fatality rates in Italy are misleading. Firstly, he says that it is an accepted fact that confirmed coronavirus cases are underestimated as there is no way for countries to test its entire population. Second, Andrews says that the inflated mortality rate is also due to the way Italy has recorded its deaths. All people who die in hospitals and were positive for the coronavirus were recorded to have died of the coronavirus even when cause of death is another illness.

Andrews also highlights the reality that Italy’s health care system was unprepared for an epidemic of this scale.

Editor’s Note: Our own president was reported to have said early in February that we didn’t need to worry too much about the coronavirus. It was the number of deaths in Italy that has forced our government to reconsider its position. But this article shows us why the Italian mortality rate for COVID-18 was false. Our country has committed the mistake of looking at the statistics without scrutinizing how the data was gathered and recorded. We have simply allowed fear to overcome us.

This article shows us that as early as March, we already knew that the reporting of COVID-19 deaths and cases was problematic. Now that Italy has re-opened and its mistakes in handling the COVID-19 outbreak has come to light, we hope that the Philippine government and other goverments will heed the lessons. [Italy’s way of recording deaths has been a common mistake among countries, read article category Is It Really That Deadly? to learn more.]

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