Updated
March 10, 2020 16: 54: 13
COVID-19 has forced the whole of Italy to go into lockdown, restricting the movements of more than 60 million residents.
But it’s not just the locals — tourists are going to be affected as well.
Let’s unpack what’s going on in Italy.
Why is the coronavirus so bad in Italy?
COVID-19 has a more severe effect on the elderly and people with existing medical conditions than young, previously healthy patients.
And Italy has a large older population.
A 2019 report from the UN says 23 per cent of Italy’s population is 65 or older.
“Italy is a country of old people,” Massimo Galli, the director of infectious diseases at a Milan hospital, told The Guardian.
“The elderly with previous pathologies are notoriously numerous here.
“I think this could explain why we are seeing more serious cases of coronavirus here, which I repeat, in the vast majority of cases start mildly and cause few problems, especially in young people and certainly in children.”
It’s thought the Italian outbreak started with one person who returned to Italy in the asymptomatic pha