Italy’s coronavirus cases rise, ending four-day positive streak

Italy on Thursday reported an uptick in new novel coronavirus infections, ending a four-day positive streak in which new cases had decreased.

The country’s tally of active cases rose by 4,492 to 62,013, the Civil Protection Agency said in its bulletin. From Sunday to Wednesday, there fewer than 4,000 new cases each day.

The nationwide spike was expected after the president of Lombardy, the northern region with the most infections, reported bad news earlier in the day.

“Unfortunately after three days in which the increase in contagions had stabilized […] around 1,600-1,800, today we had a peak and we’ve gone above 2,500,” Attilio Fontana said.

The Civil Protection Agency also reported 662 new fatalities, bringing the national death toll to 8,165, but the count appeared to be missing 50 dead from the north-western Piedmont region.

Overall infections, including deaths and recoveries, rose to 80,539, a daily increase of 8.3 per cent which brought Italy close to surpassing China’s nearly 82,000 confirmed cases.

Recoveries were up by around 11 per cent to 10,361, while the number of intensive care patients – a key figure given the shortage of hospital beds – rose by 3.5 per cent, to 3,612.

Italy is facing the world’s worst coronavirus crisis, and the whole country has been under lockdown since March 10. According to the Interior Ministry, this contributed to a sharp reduction in crime.

In the March 1-22 period, just under 53,000 crimes were reported, a year-on-year reduction of 64 per cent, the ministry said quoting a police report.

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Drug-related offences fell 46 per cent, crimes related to prostitution and paedophilia were down by 77 per cent, murders decreased by 65 per cent and sexual assaults by 70 per cent.

There are lower-than-average decreases in domestic violence, down by 43.6 per cent, and in robberies and thefts at pharmacies, one of the few categories of shops still open under the lockdown.

There was darker news from Bergamo, the worst-affected Lombardy province, as city authorities reported a huge increase in the local death rate.

Last week, 313 people died in the city, seven times more the weekly average of 45 recorded in the last 10 years, Mayor Giorgio Gori’s office said in a statement.

In the last week of February, when the outbreak was still relatively contained, there were 65 deaths. They rose to 95 in the first week of March, and to 296 in the second.

During March 1-24, there were 858 deaths in Bergamo, including of hospital patients from other towns. Counting only local residents, 446 died, against a monthly average of around 100.

In Rome, the head of the Civil Protection Agency Angelo Borrelli, who went into quarantine on Wednesday with a fever, was said to have tested negative for the novel coronavirus.

Borrelli, 55, is the face of Italy’s fight against the virus. His office said he was still suffering from mild influenza and was working from home.

On the political front, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced in the Senate a new stimulus package of at least 25 billion euros (27.5 billion dollars), adding to the 25 billion euros approved last week. (dpa)