COVID-19 changes medical education in Italy: will other countries follow?

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is bringing the world to its knees with over one million cases by 8 April 2020.1 Several governments have responded by locking down entire countries with dramatic repercussions for all sectors of society. Since 21 February, the total number of cases in Italy has followed an exponential trend with 139 422 (including 13 522 healthcare workers) by April 8, which is four times higher than 3 weeks before (35 713 confirmed cases on March 18).1 Among the currently active cases (n=95 262), 28 485 (29.9 %) are hospitalised and 3693 (3.87 %) in intensive care units (ICUs).1 Italy has overtaken China with the most SARS-CoV-2 deaths, reporting 17 669 fatalities,1 a fatality rate of 12.6% (of confirmed cases, table 1). View this table: Table 1 Estimated increase in hospital doctor workforce in the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy shown per …