![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) # Already more than 133,000 Covid deaths in Italy 1.12.2021, 5:50 p.m. (CET) In Italy, according to official government figures, more than 133,000 people have already died from Covid-19 disease. However, the Italian Higher Institute of Health has established that only 2.9% of deaths attributed to Covid-19 were caused solely by the disease. The 97% The remaining deaths are also associated with other pathologies, and which would therefore have been caused by “something other” than Covid-19, says a Facebook user in Belgium (archived here and here). ## Assessment This assertion is not correct. A report from the Italian National Institute of health concluded that 2.9% of patients whose deaths were attributed to Covid-19 did not present any comorbidity. But that doesn't mean that the remaining 97.1% died of their underlying health conditions, not of Covid-19. ## Facts The Facebook posting refers to a report (here in Italian and here in English) of the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) published on October 19, 2021. The report concerns the characteristics of patients who died in Italy who were positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease. On page 3, the report states that, in a sample of deceased patients while they were positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Italy, 2.9% did not present no comorbidity. The report continues: 11.4% of patients presented with single comorbidity, 18% had two and 67.7% had three or more. The comorbidities listed are varied, ranging from dementia to diabetes, including high blood pressure. According to the Facebook publication, the ISS thus concluded that only 2.9% of deaths attributed to Covid-19 would have been caused by the disease only and that, for all the others, the researchers would have found “1 to 5 pathologies associates who are responsible, totally or partially, for deaths in question ". Except that this sentence does not appear anywhere in the report. Faced with numerous misinterpretations of the text, particularly in the media Italians, the ISS clarified things in a press release. “The report does not specify that only 2.9% of deaths attributed to Covid-19 are caused by the virus. The percentage of 2.9% (…) refers to the percentage of patients who died while testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 and who had no other pathologies diagnosed before infection », writes the institute. Other reports show Covid-19 is the “direct cause” of 89% deaths occurring in people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, he adds. Italian civil protection has quantified the number of deaths of Covid at 133,828 at the end of November. One of the authors of the report, Graziano Onder, also told the Italian daily La Repubblica that the data had been misinterpreted. He emphasizes that, even if a large majority of people who died actually suffered from pre-existing illnesses, most of them could have lived for many more years if they had not contracted Covid-19. Having pre-existing conditions is usually a risk factor in the event of Covid-19 infection. Comorbidities can therefore contribute to death of a patient with Covid-19, but are not the cause directly from these deaths. The two main comorbidities identified in the ISS report, namely high blood pressure and diabetes, are diseases common in the general population and which rarely lead to death of people affected by it, according to Graziano Onder. Since Covid-19 particularly affects the elderly, and they often suffer from chronic illnesses, it is not surprising to note that many people have died from Covid-19 in Italy had comorbidities, explains the ISS. Erroneous interpretations of the report have already been the subject of verification from the dpa in Dutch and German. (Inventory as of 01/12/2021) ## Links Facebook post (archived here) Report in Italian (archived) Report in English (archived) About the ISS (archived) On the characteristics of patients who died from Covid-19 (archived) Misleading article from Il Tempo (archived) Interactive table of Italian civil protection ISS press release (archived) Article from La Repubblica (archived) On Covid-19 and comorbidities (archived) Fact-check from the dpa in Belgium (Dutch) DPA fact check in Germany Contact the dpa fact-checking team: factcheck- belgium@dpa.com powered by dpa-newslab | Imprint | Privacy | About:
In Italy 97 of Covid19 deaths died from something else