Much has been written about the troubles Italy has had in dealing with the Wuhan coronavirus.  Yet, little has been written about why there has been such a severe outbreak in Italy.

As of 2013, at least half of the textile manufactures in the Prato Industrial district outside of Florence, one of the hubs of the Italian textile industry, were operated by the Chinese.  As a result, there are thousands of Chinese workers located there.

The first wave of Chinese immigrants to Prato arrived in the 1990’s.  Many were hired as subcontractors by Italian textile manufacturers.  Some of these Italian businesses eventually sold out to the Chinese.

Eventually, the Chinese owners, by bringing in cheaper labor from areas such as Wenzhou, a port city north of Shanghai.  Ultimately, Chinese manufacturers began to dominate the market.  Independent journalist Tracy Beanz goes into much more detail here… Why Italy?

Fast forward to the coronavirus breakout in Wuhan.  Prior to the outbreak in Italy, or at least early on, the mayor of Florence rolled out a “Hug a Chinese” campaign in an effort to avert animosity toward the Chinese population.

Undoubtedly, the outbreak in Italy was either caused by, or at least exacerbated by Chinese immigrants.  Did this “Hug a Chinese” campaign help to spread the virus?  Who knows, since nobody really keeps track of the contact between the Italian locals and Chinese immigrants.

At the very least though, given how easily the virus is transmitted, it probably kept people from worrying enough about “social distancing.”

There are some underlying factors regarding the population in Italy that are also making the situation worse there.

  1.  Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world.
  2. Many Italians still smoke.
  3. and Italy does not have a strong primary care system like we do in the United States.

In Italy, when people become sick, they tend to go to the hospital for treatment.  This allowed the virus to spread rapidly among people who were already sick.  We already know that people with compromised immune systems are highly susceptible.

This allowed the number of infected people to literally explode in Italy.

As a result, China has been sending a substantial amount of aid to Italy to help combat the virus.  Given that the Chinese government went out of its way to conceal the seriousness of the issue early on, it’s the least it could do.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., many are pointing to Italy as a potential model for how bad things can get here.  However, with this strong connection between Italy and China, this is highly doubtful.

The U.S. has been a bit behind the curve in regard to testing, but the aggressive steps being undertaken now should help curb the spread.