Italians are most likely counting most if not all deaths as SARS-Cov2 deaths.

1) A large amount of the elderly are going to hospitals because of pre-existing conditions that might be flaring up or presenting as they normally do. They enter the clinic > get complications > get marked down as dying from SARS-Cov2. And/or they acquire hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP).

2) I’ve read the ISS report cover to cover and yes, nearly ALL deaths are due to 1) age greater than 70, 2) 75% showing 2 (two) or more per-existing conditions with a staggering 99% showing 1 (one) or more pre-existing conditions. Let’s not forget the above comment (HAP or other hospital acquired infections from SARS-Cov2, Influenza, whatever).

3) Seeing a death count YOY would be beneficial here indeed.

I don’t think ANYBODY will be able to answer my initial question here.

There is NO WAY in hell the Italians have tested over 200,000 patients for SARS-Cov2 in a matter of 2-3 weeks due to:

1) such capacity simply does not exist

2) Italians have been under quarantine and when they weren’t they were drinking coffee and not lining up for tests.

3) the time of test > result trajectory > reported data is impossible

4) such high throughout testing capacity simply does not exist

Where are these magic numbers coming from? :)