Italy now has more than 31,000 confirmed cases

Italy announced 3,526 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the country’s total to 31,506, according to Angelo Borreli, chief of the Italian Civil Protection Department.

There were also 345 more deaths recorded today, bringing the total number of coronavirus deaths in Italy to 2,503, Borrelli said.

Here’s what else Borrelli said:

• 192 more people recovered from the virus Tuesday.
• There are 1,108 people in isolation with light or no symptoms
• 2,060 are in intensive care (10% of the cases)

Plenty has already been written about how the population of Italy differs from much of the world.

According to a UN report in 2015, 28.6% of the Italian population was 60 years old or older (second in the world after Japan at 33%).

In Italy, 90% of the more than 1,000 deaths occur in those 70 or older.

Smoking is another factor clearly associated with poor survival. Smoking rates are about the same between the two countries: 24% for Italians.

Italy’s disease is occurring among the old and the very old, many of whom are smokers.