In the April 17 Press Herald, Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen attacked Italy’s health care system as an example of what to expect from socialized medicine (Page A11).
Thiessen recounted the horror of Italian doctors having to decide who dies and who gets treated among COVID patients, but seems to have missed the same situation in the Bronx.
COVID hit northern Italy so fiercely because the virus initially went unnoticed for two or three weeks, perhaps arriving before flights between Italy and China were suspended. That delay allowed the virus to spread unconstrained. Too, Italy has a high population of elderly, the age group most affected by COVID. These two circumstances caused the strain on hospitals, and only those in the northern provinces.
Thiessen should know that the World Health Organization rates Italy’s health care system second in the world, just after France; the U.S. is 37th, just after Costa Rica. He also failed to mention Germany, which has had the lowest rate of COVID deaths in Europe. Rapid and extensive testing – still lacking here – was the main reason.
If our care is so good, why are hospitals screaming for basic protective gear?
Bruce Bartrug
Nobleboro
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