The COVID-19 Outbreak and its Impact on Hospitals in Italy: the Model of Cardiac Surgery

The number of people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) worldwide is increasing dramatically, and reports from China, Iran, Italy and other areas hit hard by SARS-CoV-2 are chilling. The metropolitan area of Milan and its surrounding region of the Lombardy are one of the worst affected in Italy, and Europe at the moment. As of 29 March 2020, there have been 97 689 cases with 10 779 fatalities due to COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in whole of Italy; of these, 41 007 (6360 fatalities) have occurred in Lombardy region. In order to slow down viral transmission, local authorities and the Italian government have imposed strong containment measures by quarantining initial COVID-19 clusters and followed by a complete nationwide lock-down. The exponential increase in COVID-19-positive patients and the dramatically increasing need for intensive care unit (ICU) surge capacity for the management of critically ill patients has led the emergency task force of the Lombardy region to reallocate ICU resources.