Couldn't worse air and more smoking in Wuhan lead to the same numbers? Worse conditions in Wuhan: more people needing hospitalization (young and old) the young recover, and get counted as recovered. Meanwhile in Italy, better air means only the very weak show severe symptoms, are tested, counted as infected, and their prospects are worse.
Age is an independent risk factor, and richer countries' populations skew older. More old people means more deaths. Assuming similar environmental conditions and infection rates, Italy will see more critical cases purely as a function of population age.
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Couldn't worse air and more smoking in Wuhan lead to the same numbers? Worse conditions in Wuhan: more people needing hospitalization (young and old) the young recover, and get counted as recovered. Meanwhile in Italy, better air means only the very weak show severe symptoms, are tested, counted as infected, and their prospects are worse.
Age is an independent risk factor, and richer countries' populations skew older. More old people means more deaths. Assuming similar environmental conditions and infection rates, Italy will see more critical cases purely as a function of population age.