Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

MILAN

Italy to pump €3.6bn into industries hit by coronavirus

Italy's economy minister promised Sunday to deliver 3.6 billion euros ($4 million) in emergency aid -- equivalent to 0.2 percent of the country's entire economy -- to sectors affected by the new coronavirus epidemic.

Published: 1 March 2020 17:03 CET
Italy to pump €3.6bn into industries hit by coronavirus
Tourists wearing facemasks in Milan last week. Photo: AFP
The package must still be approved by the Italian parliament and the European Union.
   
“By next Friday, we will adopt (measures) to support the economy for all the sectors affected across the country,” Roberto Gualtieri said in an interview published in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper. “I have no reason to fear Brussels contesting our request.”
   
Every EU member state must keep within strict budget rules and limit deficit spending to set amounts or face sanctions and fines from Brussels.
   
Gualtieri said the aid could take various forms and include tax credits for businesses.
   
He also announced that the 19 eurozone finance ministers will discuss a possible joint action plan at their meeting on March 16. Italy's public deficit for 2019 will be disclosed on Monday by the state statistics agency.
   
Gualtieri said the figure should come in at “between 1.6 and 1.7 percent” of gross domestic product and well within the constraints set by Brussels.
   
Italy's financial health is “very good”, he said.
   
But he also admitted that the epidemic would make a tangible impact on growth over the first three months of 2020.
   
The Italian government had already on Friday unveiled a first set of support measures for businesses and communities in 11 small towns in northern Italy quarantined because of the outbreak.
   
COVID-19 has killed 29 people and infected more than 1,000 people in Italy.
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

SHOW COMMENTS