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HEALTH

Coronavirus deaths in Italy surge to 366 as emergency measures come into force

The number of coronavirus deaths jumped by a record 133 in the past 24 hours, while 622 patients have recovered, health officials stated on Sunday. Here's the latest news.

Published: 8 March 2020 18:42 CET
Coronavirus deaths in Italy surge to 366 as emergency measures come into force
Photo: An artist wears a mask while painting on a bridge in Venice, which is now subject to emergency quarantine measures. Photo: AFP

The death toll from the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy rose to 366 on Sunday, shooting up from 233 on Saturday.

The number of infections also rose by a single-day record of 1,492 on Sunday to hit a total of 7,375, the Civil Protection Agency stated.
 
 
This figure is a total number of cases since the outbreak began in Italy more than two weeks ago, and includes the fatalities as well as patients who have now recovered.
 
The country now has the most deaths of any country outside China, and the second-most COVID-19 infections in the world, after the number of cases rose by a single-day record of 1,492 to 7,375.
 
Civil Protection Agency head Angelo Borrelli told a news conference that of those originally infected, 622 had fully recovered.
 
This means there are currently 6,387 active cases in Italy.
 
Some two thirds of all of those currently infected have been hospitalised, authorities said.
 
 
Borrelli said Italy was ordering 22 million surgical masks to help stop the spread.
 
Italy has recorded the most deaths of any country outside China and the second-most COVID-19 infections in the world. The majority of the deaths were in the Lombardy region in northern Italy, the civil protection agency said.
 
While Italy's coronavirus fatality rate is estimated at around 3.8 percent of confirmed cases, experts warn there may be an unknown number of undetected cases.
 
All of Italy's 20 regions are affected as of Thursday, with the data showing the virus had reached the Aosta Valley on the French border.
 

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The majority of the deaths were in the Lombardy region in northern Italy, the civil protection agency said.
 
The northern Lombardy region around Milan had started “experiencing difficulties with the (number of) beds available in hospitals”, officials said.
 
“We have beds available in other regions to help Lombardy,” Borrelli told reporters.
 
 
Italy is ordering 22 million surgical masks to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the civil protection agency said.

Over 15 million people were meanwhile adjusting to quarantine measures after the government effectively shut whole swathes of the north, beginning with the Lombardy region.

 
The Italian government signed an emergency decree early on Sunday morning placing the entire region of Lombardy, including Milan, as well as Venice, Padua, Parma, Rimini and other parts of northern Italy under emergency quarantine measures for nearly a month.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated in a press conference held in the early hours of Sunday morning that he had signed off on plans to strictly limit movement in and out of the affected areas.

New rules aimed at controlling the spread of the virus are in place until April 3.

 

Photo: AFP

 
According to the WHO, around 80 percent of people who contract the new coronavirus recover without needing special treatment.
 
Around one out of every six people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing.
 
Some 3.4 percent of cases are fatal, according to the latest WHO figures.
 
Older people and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness.

 
Find all The Local's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy here. 

READ ALSO: The everyday precautions to take against coronavirus if you're in Italy

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HEALTH

Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

As Italy’s new school year began, masks and hand sanitiser were distributed in schools and staff were asked to prevent gatherings to help stem an increase in Covid infections.

Published: 11 September 2023 12:48 CEST
Italy’s schools warned to ‘avoid gatherings’ as Covid cases rise

Pupils returned to school in many parts of Italy on Monday and authorities said they were distributing masks and hand sanitiser amid a post-summer increase in the number of recorded cases of Covid–19.

“The advice coming from principals, teachers and janitors is to avoid gatherings of students, especially in these first days of school,” Mario Rusconi, head of Italy’s Principals’ Association, told Rai news on Monday.

He added that local authorities in many areas were distributing masks and hand sanitizer to schools who had requested them.

“The use of personal protective equipment is recommended for teachers and students who are vulnerable,” he said, confirming that “use is not mandatory.”

A previous requirement for students to wear masks in the classroom was scrapped at the beginning of the last academic year.

Walter Ricciardi, former president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS), told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Monday that the return to school brings the risk of increased Covid infections.

Ricciardi described the health ministry’s current guidelines for schools as “insufficient” and said they were “based on politics rather than scientific criteria.”

READ ALSO:

Recorded cases of Covid have increased in most Italian regions over the past three weeks, along with rates of hospitalisation and admittance to intensive care, as much of the country returns to school and work following the summer holidays.

Altogether, Italy recorded 21,309 new cases in the last week, an increase of 44 percent compared to the 14,863 seen the week before.

While the World Health Organisation said in May that Covid was no longer a “global health emergency,” and doctors say currently circulating strains of the virus in Italy are not a cause for alarm, there are concerns about the impact on elderly and clinically vulnerable people with Italy’s autumn Covid booster campaign yet to begin.

“We have new variants that we are monitoring but none seem more worrying than usual,” stated Fabrizio Maggi, director of the Virology and Biosafety Laboratories Unit of the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome

He said “vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity can only translate into a milder disease in young and healthy people,” but added that “vaccinating the elderly and vulnerable continues to be important.”

Updated vaccines protecting against both flu and Covid are expected to arrive in Italy at the beginning of October, and the vaccination campaign will begin at the end of October, Rai reported.

Amid the increase in new cases, Italy’s health ministry last week issued a circular mandating Covid testing on arrival at hospital for patients with symptoms.

Find more information about Italy’s current Covid-19 situation and vaccination campaign on the Italian health ministry’s website (available in English).

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