The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and Transfusion Medicine: reflections from Italy

Abstract

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Just over three months after the diagnosis of the first cases in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has become one of the most serious global health crises of modern times. As of March 31, according to the World Health Organization, 750,890 novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cases have been diagnosed worldwide. The death toll has reached the alarming figure of 36,4051, and numbers are continuing to rise at a dramatic rate. As we write, the COVID-19 outbreak seems to be under control in China, thanks to the measures adopted by the Chinese Government, which led to the lockdown of entire cities, and the management of the crisis by the Chinese National Health System. The main increase in new cases is now being observed in other countries, especially, but not only, in Western Europe and North America. In Italy, the number of infections has risen exponentially since the end of February2; by the end of March, a decrease in the rate of new cases had been observed, though it is too early to confirm a favourable trend. [ … ]