Malara, a 39-year-old intensive care specialist and anaesthetist, saw “terrible” scans of the patient’s lungs on February 20 and promptly put him in the intensive care unit where he was intubated. During a conversation with his distressed and pregnant wife, Malara learned the patient had two weeks earlier enjoyed dinner with a colleague who had recently returned from China. Alarm bells started ringing for Malara and her equally concerned colleague, Laura Ricevuti. However there was a problem: under national rules at the time, suspected coronavirus patients could only be given a test if they had actually been to China. Maestri did not qualify.
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Annalisa Malara marked an anniversary with a difference over the weekend. One year ago, the young doctor was working at Codogno hospital when she asked to see a patient gasping for air. This encounter would save the manâs life, put the world on high alert and radically alter Malaraâs career.
âThat day is impressed in my memory,â she says. âI could never forget it.â
The patient, Mattia Maestri, was an athletic 38-year-old who had come to the emergency department on February 18 with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. He was given antibiotics but did not stay. He came back that night in worse shape and was admitted. Nobody knew what was wrong.
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