Why us again? Italy suffers disproportionate toll in second COVID wave

A man places a sticker outside a pharmacy reading "COVID-19 rapid test, result in 15 minutes" where medical staff carry out swab tests, as the government prepares to bring in further restrictions over the Christmas period amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy, December 14, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

ROME (Reuters) -In late November doctor Maurizio Cappiello visited more than 130 patients in the emergency room of Cardarelli hospital, in the southern Italian city of Naples. More than two-thirds had COVID-19.

The virus which was limited mainly to Italy's industrial north during the first wave in the spring was now also ravaging the poor south, overwhelming its fragile public health system.