Since the beginning of March, at the start of every evening in Italy, consternation has prevailed. The Italian Ministry of Health has just published its daily report on the coronavirus with 793 dead for this Saturday. A sad record regularly broken in recent days. In total, 4,825 people were killed by the coronavirus pandemic in the peninsula in one month, according to figures from the civil protection.
⚠️ Nearly 800 dead today in #Italy. A figure still very high (627 dead yesterday), while the whole 🇮🇹 awaits the peak of the epidemic with anxiety.
❌ 42,681 patients (+ 4,821)
❌ 4,825 dead (+ 793)
❌ 6,072 healed (+ 943) pic.twitter.com/ysaZ2ceshI
Italian authorities have announced 6,557 new positive cases, another worrying record. The Milan region, Lombardy (north), where health services are overwhelmed, recorded the vast majority of deaths (546) and half of the new cases.
Still too many movements on the territory
The Lombard authorities have asked the head of government Giuseppe Conte to take "more coercive measures", to impose "new restrictions", more severe than the ban on assembly and the strict restrictions on movements in force since March 10. "The time has come to stop, but to really do it," write the mayor of Bergamo Giorgio Gori and the president of the province Gianfranco Gafforelli in a letter to the Prime Minister.
“The situation in the whole Lombardy region is now taking on the air of tragedy and this is even more evident unfortunately in our province of Bergamo, where we see these days so many men and women dying […] without even being able make them a goodbye, ”write the city officials in their letters.
"Given the figures that everyone knows, it is not conceivable that even today we should be based on the common sense of citizens called to respect rules subject to the most diverse interpretations," they still believe. "The movements in the territory are still too numerous and many constitute a vector for this virus", they add.
Paolo Grimoldi, who is a deputy for Lombardy (League, far right), also asked that "the government intervene immediately [...] to stop everything in Lombardy".
"We must close all economic activities"
On March 18, a team of fifty Chinese doctors landed to bring their experience in managing the health crisis in Milan, with medical equipment. Chinese Red Cross vice president Sun Shuopeng said at a press conference that public transportation continues to operate: "We must shut down all economic activities, everyone must stay at home." do your part. The life of people is the most important thing, there is no second choice when it comes to it. Here, the measures are not strict enough, […] public transport works, you still have people in the hotels, not everyone puts on a mask… ”
“I don't know what you're thinking.” The head of a visiting Chinese Red Cross delegation helping Italy respond to the coronavirus crisis says the country is not doing enough to contain the virus pic.twitter.com/qF20zeHpde
- TIME (@TIME) March 20, 2020For their part, the Italians follow the heavier daily reports. The churches are closed, we line up in front of the supermarkets where we come in drop by drop, the burials come down to a benign blessing in the utmost privacy. The police now carry out 200,000 checks every day. The army could soon support it. Especially since some researchers predict a "peak of the epidemic" for the coming days. " The situation is serious. In the coming days, it will be dramatic, ”wrote the order of Piedmontese doctors to Giuseppe Conte.
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A total of 12,592 deaths from the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide, the majority in Europe (7,199) and Asia (3,459). With 4,825 deaths, Italy is the most affected country, ahead of China (3,255), the initial home of the contagion, and Iran (1,556).