He won a grant from the Italian Society of Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) and became a visiting fellow at St George's Hospital.
In another 2018 interview to a local publication, he said: This means maintaining homeostasis in terms of pressure, oxygen transport, and cardiac output during and after the first few hours of surgery," he explained.
At the time, Cecconi advised countries without major outbreaks to focus on training staff to handle highly contagious patients and to prioritize evidence-based treatment and supportive care.
On 28 March he organised an 8-hour COVID-19 online marathon which connected thousands of clinicians worldwide to be updated about the virus, how to control its spread and how to treat infected patients.
Cecconi criticized the British government for not implementing lockdown measures sooner, pointing to the herd immunity strategy as a "dangerous approach.
"[9] In 2020, Cecconi was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic by president Sergio Mattarella for his service "to the community during the coronavirus emergency".
[5][17] During the same year, JAMA named Cecconi as one of the most influential doctors of the COVID-19 pandemic[18] alongside other notable figures like Li Wenliang and Anthony Fauci.
[3] In December 2022, Cecconi wrote an opinion piece for Corriere della Sera in which he highlighted that the previous few years revealed critical issues like antibiotic resistance and the need to rethink intensive care services.
Cecconi said that healthcare systems needed to integrate with the community for vaccination campaigns and public awareness initiatives to detect early symptoms, reducing the reliance on intensive care.
He also emphasized the role of Hera, the Authority for Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies, and EPIC-IG, an interest group on intensive medicine in the European Parliament.