An Italy that is vibrant and capable of responding to emergencies

Istat has just provided us with the death toll for June 2026: 49,446. To understand what this means, we need to compare it with the figure from the previous year. In June 2025, there were 50,455 deaths. Therefore, compared with June 2025, we recorded 1,009 fewer deaths in June this year, representing a 2 per cent decrease in deaths.

June 2026 was a month of mixed fortunes: for a while, it was as hot as the previous year; for a while, it was as oppressively and excessively hot as this year. The fact that the number of deaths in June has not risen but actually fallen compared with a year ago is therefore a positive sign. We do not have a crystal ball and do not know what Istat will tell us about the deaths in July and August this year; we can only wait. Nonetheless, the figures for June 2026—for what they are worth, given that they relate to a single month—are not particularly striking, but they do confirm that, contrary to common belief, and contrary to what one might expect from watching television reports and reading the plethora of newspapers featuring on their front pages bewildered people standing under water jets, wading in fountains, hats squashed onto their heads, umbrellas held aloft to shelter from the merciless relentless sun, it is difficult to die of the heat. And indeed, the trend that has held true from almost the first decade after the Second World War to the present day is indisputable: the average rise in temperatures has merely accompanied the extraordinary journey of the Italian people towards achieving the very highest rankings in the world in terms of life expectancy or average life expectancy at birth. To put it another way: the rise in temperatures during the hottest months has, on average, coincided with a fall in mortality rates precisely during those months. It is not the heat – at least not to date; as for tomorrow, we shall see – that is to be feared, but rather the cold; it is the cold that causes mortality to rise, whilst the heat – even extreme heat – has led to its decline, its reduction.

We shall therefore wait to see what Istat has to say about the death toll for July and August this year, but in the meantime we cannot fail to note that even during these months – which, in a certain sense and in many respects, have been particularly trying – nowhere in our country, in any town or city large or small, have we recorded any instances of services breaking down: no A&E departments have been overwhelmed, no hospitals have ground to a halt, and no care homes for the elderly have had to close due to unsustainable conditions. Everything has continued to function without any significant disruption.

There is a dual truth that emerges from this state of affairs. Two conclusions can be drawn from this that cannot be called into question.

Firstly: we are living in times of remarkable flexibility in both thought and practice. During the Covid pandemic, we pioneered remote working via the internet. Covid has unleashed a wave of innovation which, as the intense heatwaves shift from being the exception to the norm, is set to have a profound impact on the organisation of work – offices, working hours and working methods; the rhythms, spaces and routes of our cities; the structure of social and health services, starting with emergency response and care for the elderly and vulnerable, so that they better meet the needs of the local community and the circumstances of people’s lives, whether extraordinary or not.

Secondly: today, the authorities and institutions that play a role in disasters—whether more or less predictable, ranging from the outbreak of an epidemic to an extraordinary, prolonged and dangerous heatwave—have operational mechanisms and models capable of springing into action and producing effective countermeasures to halt the spread of a virus, as well as the most fearsome consequences of climate change. Of course, not everything goes as one would like; there are many delays and inefficiencies, and many geographical areas where standards fall short, not to mention that many operational models have yet to be devised, but ours is a country at the forefront – not lagging behind – when it comes to protecting people and their lives.

This consideration should be borne in mind more often, rather than rushing from one alarm to the next.