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Italy’s Mild Flu Season May Give Clues to Virus Death Rate

  • Low flu deaths increased pool of those vulnerable in epidemic
  • Before outbreak, mortality among elderly was below average
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Italy has posed a conundrum in the coronavirus pandemic: How could a country with just 60 million inhabitants rack up more deaths than any other nation in the world?

One possible clue lies in what would have been good news in any other year: The last flu season, marked by unusually warm weather, killed fewer older Italians than average, according to a report by the Italian Ministry of Health.