Coronavirus patients in Italy receive oxygen in their cars as health care system becomes strained again

Medical oxygen. — (Image credit: iStock.)

Italy's health care system is becoming strained once again.

Coronavirus cases are rising swiftly in the country, which was one of the first epicenters of the pandemic earlier this year. Back then, it was Italy's northern regions that felt the brunt of the virus, but now in Naples, the largest city in the south, the local health care system became overwhelmed this month. Infections, deaths, and hospitalizations are all surging, and NBC News reports that COVID-19 patients at one Naples hospital were administered oxygen while waiting in their cars because of a bed shortage.

Milan, the country's northern financial center, is also dealing with a renewed coronavirus crisis. The city was hit hard in the first wave, though not as badly as smaller towns in Lombardy, and it was able to rebound over the summer following a strict lockdown. But the second wave has been worse than expected. To put it into context, The Wall Street Journal notes that a temporary hospital constructed in the city treated just 23 patients all spring. This week alone, the same hospital had 37 patients. Read more about Italy's second wave at The Wall Street Journal.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.