Coronavirus found as direct cause of death in 89% of Italy’s fatalities

COVID-19 has been identified as the direct cause of death for 89% of Italy’s coronavirus victims, according to a study.

The Superior Health Institute and National Statistics Institute, ISTAT, studied 4,942 of the 31,573 coronavirus fatalities reported before May 25 and found that only 11% of deaths could be attributed to other medical issues including circulatory diseases, tumors, respiratory diseases and diabetes.

The report also found that COVID-19 was the result of 82% of fatalities where victims were under 50, but 92% for those aged 60-69. In addition, 72.8% of victims that tested positive for coronavirus also had at least one other contributing factor in their death such as hypertensive heart disease or tumors.