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More than 99% of coronavirus patients who died in Italy suffered from other, pre-existing health issues, according to a study by the country’s health officials.
The new research from the National Institutes of Health released Tuesday evaluated 355 of the country’s fatalities and found that only three patients had no prior medical conditions.
Nearly half the COVID-19 victims suffered from at least one of the following conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.
More than 75% reported high blood pressure, while 35% had diabetes and 33% had heart disease, according to the study.
The average age of the victims was 79.5, and the number of deaths in the country surpassed 2,500 this week.
Italy has seen double the rate of coronavirus fatalities compared to the rest of the world.
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The country has seen around 8% of patients die from the illness as about 4% of cases worldwide have resulted in death since the outbreak in December, according to the World Health Organization.
