In Italy, the slight drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths announced on Sunday was greeted with hope mixed with much caution on the other side of the Alps. 651 people have died of the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 5,476 victims since the start of the epidemic. “The figures announced today are lower than those of yesterday. I hope and we all hope that these figures can be confirmed in the coming days. But we must not lower our guard, "said the head of civil protection, Angelo Borrelli the day after the announcement Saturday of the record balance of 793 dead in one day. Sunday's balance sheet remains the second heaviest, while the total number of contamination cases has further increased by more than 5,500 units to wait for almost 60,000 people.
More than half of new deaths in Lombardy
Lombardy, a region in the north of the country, still recorded more than half of the new deaths and its hospital service remains overwhelmed, its nursing staff exhausted. 18 doctors have died in Italy since the start of the epidemic.
"We must not let go of an exaggerated enthusiasm nor overinterpret this balance sheet of the day down but it is a sign that we welcome positively, says Franco Locatelli, an official of the Italian health authorities. Especially because it comes at a time when we expected to have tangible signs of the effectiveness of containment measures. ”
The latter were again tightened with the ban on traveling to a different municipality except for proven reasons of work, absolute urgency or for health reasons. "We are a little arrived at the maximum of what can be the measures of prevention of the contagion in social terms", slips besides Franco Locatelli.