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A 34-year-old nurse from Italy, Daniela Trezzi, has committed suicide after finding out that she tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. According to a statement by the National Federation of Nurses of Italy, she had been working on the front lines and was scared that she had infected others.
Trezzi had been working at the San Gerardo Hospital in the Lombardy region, which is the most affected part of the country. The National Federation of Nurses of Italy confirmed Trezzi’s death on Twitter. They said that she took her own life on Sunday after suffering heavy stress during her work.
La Federazione Nazionale Ordini Professioni Infermieristiche esprime dolore e costernazione per la giovane collega che si è tolta la vita. I 450mila professionisti presenti in Italia si stringono attorno alla famiglia, agli amici e ai colleghi di Daniela.
The tweet, in Italian, reads: “The National Federation of Nurses expresses their pain and dismay for their young colleague who has committed suicide. Our 450,000 professionals across Italy join together to support Daniela’s family, friends and colleagues.”
Daniela Trezzi Was Diagnosed With Coronavirus on March 10 After Working in the Intensive Care Unit
According to the statement, Daniela was a 34-year-old nurse assigned to the intensive care unit at the hospital. It says that after she was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 10, she told her colleagues that she was stressed and worried that she might have infected others without knowing.
The statement also indicated that this wasn’t the first instance of this occurring, and pointed to a similar event in Venice a week ago. They indicated that although they hope it won’t happen again, the stressful conditions in Italy and the shortage of staff means that this may tragically happen again.
The director of the San Gerardo Hospital, Mario Aparone, confirmed the suicide in the statement. He expressed his regret and also added that Daniela had been at home in isolation since her positive diagnosis on March 10 and that “she was not under surveillance.”
Italy Has Been the Hardest Hit Country & Over 5,000 Health Care Workers Have Been Infected
According to the NY Post, around 5,760 health care workers have contracted the coronavirus since the outbreak began in the country. That’s about 8 percent of the total number of cases in the country. On Tuesday, Italy’s cases reached 69,176 and 6,820 deaths. That’s almost double the deaths in China, where the virus emerged a few months ago.
According to Metro, the Civil Protection Agency in Italy has collected data indicating that the actual number of infections could actually be as high as 700,000. The health care system in Italy has been completely overwhelmed and stories have emerged of medics having to make impossible decisions about which patients to treat due to a lack of beds and respirators.
Italy has been in lockdown for two weeks, and the number of deaths had started going down in the last couple of days, from 783 on Saturday to 651 on Sunday and 600 on Monday. However, on Tuesday, the number of deaths rose again to 743, indicating that the end may not yet be in sight.
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