italy coronavirus

NOTE: The Surgeon General has warned Americans against buying face masks. "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if health care providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!" the Surgeon General warned on Twitter.

Italy surpassed China today to be the country with the largest number of deaths from COVID-19. The country's death toll hit 3,405 as of Thursday according to Italy's Civil Protection Department.

The entire country has been on lockdown since March 9, with citizens only able to leave their homes for "essential" activities such as a trip to the pharmacy or grocery store.

"The death toll is rising from people who were infected before the national lockdown" Angelo Borrelli, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Department said.

"We still believe that once we are 14 days out from the lockdown we will begin to see a significant drop in the death toll," Borrelli said.

There are many countries that have yet to feel the full force of the pandemic.

So filmmakers in Milan made a compilation video of Italians on lockdown talking to their past selves about the virus. The filmmakers hope that people in other countries will learn from Italy's hindsight and practice social distancing to stop the progress of the virus.