All-cause mortality in the Bergamo region rose from 900 in March 2019 to 5400 in March 2020, but the stats record only 2060 COVID deaths. So likely over half of Italian COVID deaths aren’t being recorded as COVID. https://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/premium/Cronaca/coronavirus-il-numero-reale-dei-decessiin-bergamasca-4500-in-un-mese_1347415_11/

Yes, I’m blocking the various Cliff Clavens who reply insisting that something else must be killing thousands of Italians who wouldn’t be dying otherwise.

If deaths go from 900 to 5400, then either (1) COVID is killing thousands or (2) something else even worse is killing thousands. If you don’t have a plausible explanation for (2), but you insist (1) is false, you’re a blithering conspiracy moron who isn’t worth listening to.

Note that the Bergamo region population is 1.1 million. So 4500 excess mortality is 0.4% of the entire population. In one month. Not 0.4% of the infected, 0.4% of everybody. 0.4% of NYC is 34,500 people. 0.4% of the USA is 1.3 million people.

So even if you want to pretend it’s “flu” killing all these Italians, it’s a flu worse than the 1918 pandemic—and means we need the same sort of emergency reaction we’re experiencing now.