ROME, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Does having one of the oldest populations in the world put Italy at higher risk of coronavirus infection? Analysts said it is still too early to tell.
With more than 30,000 people having been infected, Italy is now the hardest-hit country outside China.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is known to be especially deadly to the elderly. While the overall worldwide death toll from the disease is around 3.5 percent of those infected, for those over 80 it rises dramatically to nearly 15 percent, according to data from the World Health Organization.
According to data from Italy's Ministry of Health, the figure for those over 80 is higher in Italy -- 16.6 percent compared to 14.8 percent worldwide -- but the overall death toll is higher as well.
Last week, Italian Civil Protection officials said the average age of a person who died from COVID-19 in Italy was 81. But they have also noted that a 98-year-old is among those who were infected and then cured.
Maria Silvana Salvini, a professor of demographics at the University of Florence, said that even though the total number of infections is growing each day, it is still too early to conclude whether the country's elderly population makes the country more vulnerable.
"There are many reasons there are so many elderly people in Italy, ranging from a healthy diet and exercise to good weather and a good health care system," Salvini told Xinhua.
"The virus is especially deadly for those who are infirm. But people don't just live longer, but they are healthy longer. An average 80-year-old in Italy may be in better health than someone of the same age in another country," she said.
Last year, Italy's National Statistics Institute reported that the number of centenarians -- people aged 100 or above -- was nearing 15,000, nearly 4,000 more than a decade earlier.
The number of Italians above the age of 80, 90, or 100, when stated as a percentage of the overall population, remains among the highest in the world.
Both the life expectancy (81.1 years) and median age (47.3 years) of Italians are among the highest in the world, while their national birth rate is among the lowest in the industrialized world, according to United Nations figures.
"We have to look at these trends as they relate to longevity as something positive, a reflection of a healthy and low-stress lifestyle in Italy," Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi, president of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, said in an interview.
The Italian media has noted that the refocusing of the state healthcare system, which aims to address the risks of coronavirus, could have an indirect impact on elderly Italians. It may become more difficult for them to get the care they need to stay healthy even if they are not infected by the coronavirus.
Salvini did not dismiss the possibility that the high number of elderly could ultimately prove statistically significant.
"It's just too early to draw any conclusions and it doesn't make sense to cause worry when we can't be sure," she said.
