Gender Differences in Covid-19 Cases and Death Rates in Italy

According to the latest information supplied by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) up until May 20th, there have been 227,169 cases of COVID-19 microbiologi-cally diagnosed in Italy, of whom 54% were women On the same date, 31,017 deaths were registered but, in this case, women accounted for only 40% of the total, a proportion that rises to 66% after age 90 Considering the total cases rates by age, levels are slightly higher for women up to 50 years of age and higher for men up to 80 Only from 90, women surpass men with much higher values On the con-trary, mortality rates are higher for men at all ages, particu-larly in the ages 50-69 male mortality is more than three-fold that of women However, official COVID-19 data underestimate deaths According to Istat&ISS estimates from 20 February to 31 March 2020, deaths due to COVID-19 infection represent only 54% Ninety-one percent of the excess mortality registered at national level is concentrated in areas where the epidemic was widespread © 2020, Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore s r l All rights reserved