The coronavirus death toll among Italian doctors reached 100 on Thursday as four more physicians died in the past 24 hours, the Italian doctors’ federation FNOMCEO said.
“The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100 – perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately,” a FNOMCeO spokesman told AFP.
Italian media reports estimate that 30 nurses and nursing assistance have also died of COVID-19.
The toll includes retired doctors who had voluntarily returned to work during the outbreak.
They were among some 8,000 medical staff to volunteer last month for an emergency coronavirus task force.
Some hospitals in Lombardy and other badly-hit areas are struggling with half as many staff as needed to treat the number of patients being admitted, Il Messeggero reported.
According to the offical list most of these victims worked in and around Lombardy, the region at the centre of the Italian outbreak – although doctors have also died further south in Le Marche, Campania, Sicily and Puglia.
