The death toll in Italy went up on Monday April 6, with 636 additional deaths in 24 hours, after two consecutive days of decline, announced the Civil Protection.
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Italy, the country hardest hit by the Covid-19 epidemic with a total of 16,523 deaths in more than 132,000 cases, had started to expect a lull after recording significant drops on Saturday and Sunday compared to 766 deaths from Friday. Lombardy, the economic lung of the peninsula, remains the most affected region with 9,202 deaths for more than 51,000 cases, followed by Emilia-Romagna, 2,108 deaths for more than 17,000 cases.
The number of patients in intensive care continued to decline for the third consecutive day, with 79 fewer patients compared to Sunday for a total of 3,898 people.
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Several dozen doctors have died of coronavirus in Italy since the start of the pandemic, according to figures from the Order of Physicians. In total, 12,252 health professionals were contaminated, according to the Higher Institute of Health.
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During his daily press conference, the head of Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli announced the creation of a fund " intended to help the families of health professionals who died in this crisis ".
Towards a deconfinement?
Asked about the start of phase 2, that of a gradual and partial exit from strict measures to contain and close down non-essential economic activities, Angelo Borrelli said that the government would take a decision before April 13 (Monday of Easter), the date on which these measures expire.
" The technical-scientific committee is in the process of carrying out evaluations but it will then be up to political decision-makers, and therefore to the Council of Ministers and the President of the Council to decide on the date and the modalities " of this phase 2, a -he says.
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An increasing number of Italian regions are introducing the compulsory wearing of a protective mask, or failing this a scarf covering the nose and mouth, as soon as one leaves home. “ We cannot stay locked up at home forever, but we consider that this sacrifice must be kept another 2-3 weeks to stop the spread. As far as the masks are concerned, we will probably have to get used to wearing them for the next few months, ”said health manager for the Lombardy region, Giulio Gallera.
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