The coronavirus has become much less lethal and the virus is losing its “potency,” a top Italian doctor has said, Reuters reported.
Dr. Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan — one of the areas in Italy hardest hit by COVID-19 — explained the evolution of the virus is extremely positive.
“In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” Zangrillo told RAI television, Reuters reported.
“The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago,” he explained.
Although daily COVID-19 cases continue to rise, daily deaths are steadily decreasing after reaching a peak in mid-April. The increase in positive cases reflects mass testing across the globe, not a virus that is rapidly spreading. Italy, specifically, now averages fewer than 100 COVID-19 deaths per day after becoming the global epicenter just two months ago.
The decrease in potency means nations should reopen, Zangrillo said.
In fact, the doctor said there should be accountability for leaders who enacted such harsh lockdowns when the virus never lived up to the scientific predictions.
“We’ve got to get back to being a normal country,” he said, Reuters reported. “Someone has to take responsibility for terrorizing the country.”
Dr. Matteo Bassetti, the head of the infectious diseases clinic at a hospital in Genoa, corroborated Zangrillo’s analysis.
“The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today,” he told the ANSA news agency, Reuters reported. “It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different.”