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Italy’s coronavirus deaths up slightly amid hope cases are peaking

There have now been almost 14,000 coronavirus victims in Italy, officials said on Thursday, while infections seem to have reached a peak in some areas.

Published: 2 April 2020 18:41 CEST
Italy's coronavirus deaths up slightly amid hope cases are peaking
Doctors wearing protective clothing at the entrance of the Nomentana hospital near Rome on April 2. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Another 4,668 cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed on Thursday, according to the latest daily figures from Italy's Civil Protection department.

In total, Italy has now confirmed 115,242 cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began, including deceased and recovered patients.

The death toll figure rose by 760, a slight rise compared to Wednesday's 727.

This brings the total number of fatalities to 13,915.

Of those originally infected, some 18,278 in total had fully recovered on Thursday, compared to 16,847 the day before.

There were 4,053 people in intensive care, up from a previous 4,035, however authorities said the total number of patients in hospital because of the virus was down.

READ ALSO: Five reasons why the coronavirus hit Italy so hard

 

“The number of people being hospitalized has decreased,” said Angelo Borrelli, the head of the Civil Protection Department, who himself recently tested negative for coronavrus after falling ill.

“61 percent of the total infected people are in home isolation with no symptoms or with mild symptoms, a number that has increased in percentage terms,” he said.

The infection rate has also slowed again in Lombardy, the worst-affected region, with 1,292 new cases registered on Thursday, compared to 1,565 on Wednesday.

The death toll has not fluctuated dramatically for a few days, though some doubts were raised on Wednesday about the accuracy of data on fatalities.

Authorities acknowledge that the data are incomplete because deaths from COVID-19 related causes outside hospitals are not counted.

Italy has registered more deaths than anywhere else in the world, and currently accounts for around 28 percent of all global fatalities from the virus.

 

ANALYSIS: When will the coronavirus epidemic in Italy peak?

The world is watching closely for evidence that Italy's coronavirus quarantine measures have been enough to contain the spread.

Borrelli said on April 1st that infection rates in some parts of the country were reaching a peak, but said “the south is still at risk.”

“It would be a mistake to let our guard down now,” he added.

The Italian government on Wednesday extended the country’s current lockdown measures until April 13th.

In a speech on Wednesday night, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte told the public any loosening of the measures could spark a new rise in the number of cases.

 


“If we started to loosen the measures, all of our efforts would have been in vain and we would pay a very high price,” he said.

He also warned he could not commit to when the lockdown would end.

“The moment the data is consolidated and the experts give their response, we'll be able to identify an end date. But I can't give it today.”

READ ALSO:  How Italy has changed the way it reports the daily coronavirus figures

 

 

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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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