Five years after the first COVID-19 cases in Italy: the virus has been defeated by science

Five years ago, on January 29, 2020, Italy admitted its first two COVID-19 patients: two Chinese tourists in Rome. Within weeks, the virus spread everywhere, hitting Northern Italy particularly hard. The lockdown, overwhelmed hospitals, and the haunting images of military trucks carrying coffins in Bergamo marked an era. Today, in 2025, we can assertively say that COVID-19 has been defeated—not by conspiracy theories or no-vax rhetoric, but by science and vaccines.

In 2024, Italy recorded 646,000 deaths, a number virtually identical to that of 2019, before the pandemic hit. This indicates that COVID-19 no longer poses an emergency and that vaccines have made a significant difference. Hospitals are no longer collapsing—they've returned to their usual issues. Studies have shown that vaccinations have prevented millions of deaths, particularly from the aggressive Delta variant. Even Omicron, though less deadly, would have caused far more fatalities without vaccine protection.

However, 5 million Italians still suffer from long COVID symptoms, one of the pandemic's worst legacies, underscoring the virus's danger and the necessity of halting its spread early.

For many, COVID-19 is now a distant memory. But in the health and research sectors, the pandemic remains a subject of study. Enrico Girardi, the Scientific Director at the Spallanzani Institute in Rome, a reference center during the crisis, emphasizes the ongoing scientific interest in SARS-CoV-2. "Although it seems resolved in the public's mind, being the first pandemic in a highly technological world, we can learn much about what worked and what we need to improve for the future," Girardi told AdnKronos.

A key focus is preparing for future pandemics. "We must not always react in emergency mode," Girardi adds, "but build a system capable of mitigating the consequences of these events."

International collaboration was vital during the pandemic's early phase. Doctors Andrea Mariano and Angela Corpolongo, who were on duty at Spallanzani when the first COVID-19 patients arrived in Italy, recall the crucial role of discussions with colleagues at Wuhan University, who provided valuable disease management information.

"The decision to use cortisone was experimental and debated but proved effective. Sharing experiences with Chinese colleagues helped refine treatments and save lives," they explain. Another crucial step was the first positive swab from the Chinese tourists, which allowed isolating the virus and rapidly developing subsequent tests. Italy was among the first countries in Europe to achieve this, facilitating crisis management.

Yet, despite everything, no-vax misinformation has not ceased. Even today, social media is rife with fantastical theories about supposed vaccine "damages," which data and reality consistently debunk. Fake news about nonexistent side effects or "experimental" mRNA vaccines have been refuted by scientific studies and the fact that billions have been vaccinated without issues. The simple truth is that without vaccines, the death toll would have been much higher.

Five years later, the story is clear: COVID-19 was conquered through scientific research, vaccines, doctors, and scientists—not through conspiracies, YouTube videos, or social media posts. Those who continue to deny these facts, who still support baseless theories, only demonstrate that misinformation can be more dangerous than a virus. But science has already proven capable of winning even against this threat.