More than 680 people died from COVID-19 in Italy in the 24 hours to Wednesday, the Italian Civil Protection Agency said, as concerns grew that the coronavirus was spreading more toward the south of the nation.
The death toll increased by 683 on Wednesday. That was lower than a spike of 743 on Tuesday, but more than the totals of the previous two days and the third-highest daily tally since the outbreak emerged in northern regions on Feb. 21.
Italy has seen more fatalities than any other nation, with the latest figures showing that 7,503 people had died in barely a month.
Photo: Reuters
The northern region of Lombardy, by far the hardest-hit, showed a steep decline in the number of deaths and new infections, raising hopes that the epidemic might be slowing at its original epicenter.
However, optimism was tempered by warnings from the south, where contagion and deaths are far less widespread, but are rising steadily and could overwhelm a health service that is much less well-equipped than in the richer north of the nation.
“At this point there is the real prospect that Lombardy’s tragedy is about to become the south’s tragedy,” Vincenzo de Luca, president of the Campania region around Naples, wrote in an open letter to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
“We are on the eve of a major expansion of infections which may not be sustainable,” he said, complaining that the government had failed to provide Campania with promised ventilators and other life-saving equipment.
So far there have been 74 deaths in Campania, the worst-affected region in the south.
The central region of Lazio, around Rome, has registered 95 fatalities.
The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 74,386 from 69,176, the agency said.
The rise of 7.5 percent was the lowest since the outbreak began, but only severely ill people are being tested and agency head Angelo Borrelli said this week that the true number of infections is probably 10 times those officially recorded.
Borrelli was not present at the customary news conference to illustrate the latest figures because he came down with a fever and was being tested.
With Italy in lockdown for the past two weeks and its economy on its knees, Conte on Wednesday promised a second 25 billion euros (US$27 billion) stimulus package next month, at least as much as the one he adopted earlier this month.
With his approval ratings at record highs, Conte appealed to the opposition to get behind the government’s efforts and halt its attacks on his handling of the crisis until it is over.
“There will be a time for everything, but now is the time for action and responsibility,” he told the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
One source of potential conflict for Conte was defused when the government reached an agreement with trade unions, who had threatened strikes because they wanted more companies shuttered to protect workers’ health.
Conte agreed to extend the production sectors that would be temporarily closed because they are not deemed essential to the supply chain.
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