It has recorded just 36.6 new infections per 100,000 people over the past two weeks compared to 319.9 in Spain,235.0 in France,170.6 in the Netherlands and 99.7 in the United Kingdom.
Its total cases rose by 13 per cent over the past fortnight compared to the one prior. The growth in Britain over that same period was more than 12 times higher. Fifteen other European countries also had a higher number of deaths per capita than Italy over the last two weeks.
Experts have credited its success to high levels of face mask usage,rapid airport testing,compliance with social distancing and a gradual easing out of a strict national lockdown.
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However,its unorthodox testing and tracing method has also captured attention. When a positive case is detected,Italian authorities test everyone in that person's orbit — including their family,friends,colleagues and neighbours — regardless of whether they were ever exposed.
Andrea Crisanti,a professor of microbiology at the University of Padua and expert in molecular parasitology at Imperial College London,said the approach picked up asymptomatic cases and was a realistic answer to the limitations of highly detailed contact-tracing regimes such as delays and resourcing constraints.
"At some point,it really gets beyond your capability,"he said of tracing based on certain dates and locations.