Fred99:

 

The figures from Italy are showing the same/similar gender imbalance in mortality as was apparent in Wuhan, also a difference in diagnosed infection rate.  More cases identified in men (yet there will be more women aged 60+ in the community), and when infected, men are more likely to die - about 2/3 more likely.

 

 

The imbalance in Wuhan seemed to correlate with the very high number of smokers amongst Chinese men - and very low number of smokers amongst women.  I don't believe that's the case in Italy where smoking rates are much lower overall, and there's far less difference in smoking rate in men and women.  Unless perhaps there's a correlation between ex-smokers (who quit long ago), a prior imbalance in smoking by gender (possible I guess - and probably true for many countries incl NZ, I think 30 years ago more men tended to smoke, and when they did, they probably smoked more).  However it seems quite likely that the imbalance isn't to do with smoking - or at least it's not the main reason.

 

More men smoke in Italy (23%) compared with women (15%) (both 2015 figures). I don't have historical or age stratified figures though.

One other thing to consider is that even though there will be more women 65+ in the community than men, the men who make it past this age are more likely to be living with a partner. As more men die early, a lot of elderly women are (sadly) very isolated because they live alone and have limited mobility.