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HEALTH

Italy’s coronavirus death toll rises by 766 as rate of intensive care admissions slows

The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy since the beginning of the epidemic continued to rise steeply on Friday with another 766 fatalities recorded. Over 4,000 patients remained in intensive care.

Published: 3 April 2020 18:41 CEST
Italy's coronavirus death toll rises by 766 as rate of intensive care admissions slows
Photo: AFP

The overall death toll now stands at 14, 681 meaning Italy is still the country worst hit by global coronavirus pandemic.

There are growing suggestions however that the real toll from the virus in Italy is far higher.

“For sure, the figures are wrong,” said Matteo Villa, a researcher at the Italian Institute for Political Studies and author of a new study (in Italian) titled ”Coronavirus: Lethality in Italy, between appearance and reality”

He said that the death toll may have been underestimated by up to 6,000, or a third of the official total.

READ ALSO: What's the problem with Italy's official coronavirus numbers?

The number of new confirmed infections continued to slow slightly on Friday with 4,585 new cases in the last 24 hours, compared to 4,668 on Thursday.

The number of people to have officially recovered from the virus in Italy continues to grow with another 1,480 in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 19, 758. Although the real number is likely to be far higher given most mild cases of the disease were never tested.

The number of patients in intensive care across Italy's hospitals was 4,068, although that figure is a rise of only 15 on Thursday's number, which 18 more than on Wednesday. In the early stages of the epidemic the number of people being admitted to intensive care rose by hundreds each day.

All Italian regions have recorded numerous coronavirus deaths but nowhere has been harder hit than Lombardy in the north which now counts over 8,000 victims of the virus. Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte have both recorded over 1,000 deaths.

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.”

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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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