Corona in Italy: Conte government is preparing a huge test program - with 150,000 people

In Italy, the relaxation of strict corona measures is being discussed. The country is increasingly facing an ordeal. The news ticker.

• Italy is one of the countries worst affected by the corona virus *.
• Nevertheless, thanks to positive trends, the government is now planning to relax the measures.
• A new north-south conflict is emerging.
• Here you will find our guide to corona reporting and basic facts about the corona virus *. You will also find current case numbers for Germany, Italy, Spain, the USA and worldwide. The most important thing about the topic is also on our brand new Facebook page Corona News. Become a fan now.

Update, 8.30 p.m .:  In Italy , the number of Covid 19 fatalities fell again within 24 hours. 

260 new coronavirus- related deaths have been reported, the lowest daily value since March 14, according to the relevant agency. 

The previous day, 415 corona deaths had been registered. A total of 26,644 people in Italy have now succumbed to the pandemic. The number of infected people increased by 2324 to 197,675.

Italy will soon ease the curfew over Corona

Update, 8 p.m .: From May 4, Italy wants to gradually ease its strict curfew due to the coronavirus pandemic . The consequent exit restrictions apply since March 9th.

Then "a large part of the companies" should open again, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told  the newspaper La Repubblica .

Independent Prime Minister of Italy: Giuseppe Conte.

© AFP / HANDOUT

However, the opening of restaurants and hotels could still take some time, the head of government continued. Italy has the highest number of corona deaths in Europe , with more than 26,600 deaths .

Coronavirus in Italy: Huge study to research the number of undigested corona

Update, 1 p.m .: From May 4, Italy is planning a huge study to be able to determine the undisclosed number of corona infected people - by means of an antibody test on initially 150,000 people. 

This comes from a decision that the government in Rome passed last weekend. Government commissioner Domenico Arcuri, who is responsible for the coronavirus crisis , said that the test kits are free for citizens.

Corona crisis in Italy: Giuseppe Conte names the period for school openings

Update of April 26, 9:30 am: " The school is very important to us and will reopen in September," said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in an interview in the newspaper "La Repubblica" on Sunday. 

The schools will no longer be open until the summer holidays , which begin in Italy in June and last until mid-September. Italy's schools have been closed since March 5th. In the interview, Conte praised the fact that the home class had proven itself.

Coronavirus - Liberation Day of Italy

© dpa / Cecilia Fabiano

April 25th is celebrated in Italy as  "Liberation Day" from the occupation by Hitler's Germany - people had celebrated the day with hymns from their balconies. Observers also speak of nationalist tendencies.

Coronavirus in Italy: Detained Mafia members released

Update of April 25, 8:35 p.m .:  The unusual situation in Italy seems to lead to just as extraordinary judgments . Due to the corona pandemic, imprisoned mafia members were released and sentenced to a "house arrest". Among them is media reports, the convicted Camorra boss Pasquale Zagaria - his nickname: "Bin Laden". Above all, his transfer to a stay of several months at home caused heated debate in the crisis-ridden state .

Coronavirus in Italy: Mafia boss transferred to home arrest - Lega outraged

The 60-year-old mafiosi was reported to have been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes in 2007 for who he was imprisoned in Sardinia , according to the Italian press . The court ruled that health care for the allegedly ill Zagaria could not be guaranteed during the Corona crisis. Pasquale Zagarua is obviously the brother of a senior boss of the Casalesi gang, a notorious clan of the Neapolitan Camorra . He was now sent from Sardinia to Brescia in Lombardy.

Pasquale Zagaria, in prison since 2007 on serious charges of extortion and mafia association, has been released from prison due to the coronavirus and was placed under house arrest in his wife's house https://t.co/XbHscqyfC4 pic.twitter.com/ RkvlCFDZ6R

The court decision caused great outrage among the far right parties, and particularly the Lega . The government has been accused of negligence in jeopardizing the security of its citizens by releasing serious criminals into home arrest. A victims' association also raised concerns. As the Ansa news agency reported, Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede's department agreed to an audit . 

In order to defuse the risk of infection in the permanently overcrowded prisons, prison terms have been reduced. Some prisoners with less serious crimes were sent to house arrest .

Coronavirus in Italy: 60 million Italians hope the measures will be relaxed

Update of April 25, 7.40 p.m .:  On Sunday in Italy, the government's decisions on how to curb the coronavirus * are expected. The strict curfew that has been in effect since March 9 could possibly be eased. It expires on May 3. 

60 million Italians are now eagerly awaiting the decisions that will determine the course of their summer. The pace at which the third largest economy in the eurozone wants to overcome its crisis is also set by the new government decisions. In Germany, meanwhile, many people fear for their summer vacation. Due to the worldwide travel warning in the wake of the corona pandemic, this is more than just on the brink. Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made a statement on Wednesday that angered representatives of the German tourism industry. 

Corona virus in Italy: Conte decides on easing on Sunday

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte reportedly prefers a plan with gradual easing over four weeks . Italians could therefore leave their homes without restrictions in early May since March 9th . However, the plan does not foresee an immediate return to everyday life.

Gastronomic businesses are likely to offer dishes again from May 4 , if only for collection. Everything else should remain closed. Museums may be able to open their doors again on May 18 . However, the easing is extremely fragile, as it could be withdrawn at the first sign of an increase in the daily number of infections. In a further phase, a mask requirement will be enforced in public as well as nationwide antibody tests . 

Italy began conducting antibody tests in one northern region on Thursday seeking information about coronavirus immunity to help guide authorities as they reopen the long locked-down countryhttps: //t.co/JH4HvNDIiO

With more than 26,300 deaths , Italy is the most severely affected by the corona virus in Europe - only the United States has more deaths. Emergency protection officer Domenico Arcuri said to press representatives  on Saturday that "the coronavirus * has been weakened but not defeated". 

Corona virus in Italy: credit rating downgraded

Update of April 25, 3:50 p.m .:  Italy , badly hit by the Corona crisis , has escaped a gradation in its creditworthiness for the time being. The rating agency S&P said on Saturday night that it left the country's debt rating at "BBB" - two levels above junk level. The outlook remains “negative”.

With Moody's, another large rating agency had already indicated on Friday that it did not want to downgrade Italy for now. The assessment of the country's creditworthiness should remain unaffected by the Corona crisis , because, firstly, the crisis is temporary, secondly, loans are cheap in the long term given the low interest rate policy of the central banks.

Moody's currently ranks Italy one level above junk level with “Baa3”. On May 8, the agency plans to announce the results of its ongoing evaluation. Italy groaned before the Corona crisis under a high debt burden. But the government needs a lot of money because it plans to spend large amounts to get the country out of the crisis.

Most recently, the European Central Bank intervened to protect Italy and similarly hard-hit countries from a junk rating. For example, banks can get money more cheaply. These steps would allow Italy to “refinance its own debt at around 0 percent interest rates,” S&P said.

Corona virus in Italy: study shows - tears become a risk of infection

Update from April 24th, 11.08am : Those who develop Corona and are struggling with strong symptoms will sometimes not be able to hold back a tear or two from suffering and pain. However, this could now become the next risk of infection for consolers: As Italian scientists have researched, the coronavirus should not only be transmitted via the airways, but also through tears . It should also be able to multiply there.

In a new study by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases Spallanzani in Rome, according to blick.ch, the virus collects in tears, multiplies there and can be detected in it for up to a month. This was the result of an examination of the ocular secretions of some Covid 19 patients. It could therefore be particularly dangerous for ophthalmologists and opticians who easily come into contact with the tears of patients and customers. The results of the study have already been forwarded to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Corona virus in Italy: government with strange plans - Italian patient dies in Leipzig 

Update from April 23, 4.13 p.m .: Plastic partition walls to  prevent  corona infection  in airplanes, trains and restaurants - these things could soon become part of everyday life in Italy. The government in Rome plans from May 4th easing of curfews for 60 million citizens. Bars, restaurants and many offices could also gradually reopen. The condition is likely that local and business still maintain protection rules. So the country is brimming with ideas: The focus is often on cutting discs made of transparent plastics.

The newspaper Corriere della Sera published two pages on Thursday with animations about the near "future of transport" : with thin separating disks between individual airplane seats. In coaches, windows could be pulled up behind and in front of every row of two.

Rome restaurants are already hammering and cleaning to prepare for the opening . The authorities are expected to prescribe large gaps between tables in parallel with the easing. Companies are developing sliding partitions to provide even more security. Small plexiglass panes on tables are also an option, according to a company from Palermo, about which the Ansa news agency reported.

Taxi drivers in the Italian capital had long built their own transparent plastic elements between themselves and the back seat in their cars. There is also advertising for baseball caps with a plastic disc in front of the face as a portable spit protection against droplet infections.

Update from April 23, 3:50 p.m .: While there was still positive news from Chemnitz on Wednesday when two seriously ill Cvid-19 patients from Italy were discharged from the hospital, there is sad news on Thursday. 

A Covid-19 patient from Italy died in the heart center in Leipzig after having been artificially ventilated for over a month. As the clinic announced, the 70-year-old died of multi-organ failure.

"We are sad and disappointed," said Gerhard Hindricks, medical director of the clinic: "The patient had numerous previous illnesses , such as diabetes and an arterial circulatory disorder. A secondary infection that he brought with him from Italy also affected his weakened immune system. ”

A 31-year-old Covid-19 patient from the Bergamo region had died on Saturday . Both had been flown to Leipzig for treatment on March 25. In total, three Italian corona patients have died in Leipzig University Hospital.

Corona virus in Italy: two months after the outbreak of the virus - death toll breaks sad European record 

Update of April 22, 7:30 p.m .: Just over two months after the outbreak of the corona virus in Italy, the death toll has continued to rise and has passed a worrying mark . According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 25,000 people in Italy have died as a result of coronavirus infection, and the number is currently 25,085. Since February, around 187,000 people have tested positive for the virus.

So far, 54,543 of those infected in Italy have already recovered  . The curve of new infections leveled off , however, in the past two weeks significantly from , so that hospitals were relieved. As of May 4, the restrictions are known to be relaxed, as the government announced.  

According to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte  , the manufacturing and construction industries, among others, should be able to resume their work.

Coronavirus: Italian patients in Chemnitz discharged from the clinic in good health

Update from April 22, 2:47 pm: Good news from Italy, much more from Chemnitz. On March 29, two seriously ill Italian corona patients were brought to the local hospital, and on Tuesday they were discharged healthy. 

"We are very happy that we were able to discharge the two patients who have come together to treat us, and together again", is Prof. Hammerschmidt, head physician of the Department of Pneumology at bild.de quoted. 

Update from April 22, 1:23 pm : Italy has been in the lockdown for over 50 days . The situation remains serious. Still, not everyone adheres to curfews. 

The police in Rimini are now chasing corona sinners with drones . If the drone detects someone on the beach or in the park, officials set off with cars and quads. In three days, the police in Rimini said they stopped 1204 people .

Occhi volanti per i controlli della Polizia Locale: in volo due droni sulle spiagge e sui parchi pubblici per il rispetto delle misure emergenzialihttps: //t.co/BelMRtK13X#covid19 #restiamoacasa #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/zze7o3EXQJ

Corona virus in Italy: jellyfish conquer Venice

Update of April 22, 10:32 am : In Italy, positive news is rare in Corona times . An Instagram video from Venice now shows a completely different - charming - page. It is currently exceptionally quiet in the lagoon city. This has consequences for the underwater world: jellyfish are returning in Venice's canals.    

"Sometimes you just have to change your perspective to admire a ghost that moves through the Venetian palaces," Andrea Mangoni writes about his Instagram video.    

According to him, the jellyfish is a lung jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo), which seems to float through the clear water near the Ponti dei Bareteri.  

Check out this post on Instagram

A post shared by Andrea Mangoni (@ andrea.mangoni) on Apr 13, 2020 at 1:06 p.m. PDT

Coronavirus in Italy: new numbers - 534 deaths

Update from April 21, 8:45 pm: Bad news from Italy : The infection numbers are increasing faster again. After the head of civil protection Angelo Borrelli reported a positive development for the first time on the previous day ( see below ), the number of new infections on Tuesday (April 21) is now 2729 - on Monday (April 20) there were 2,256 infections. There are also more new deaths : 534 cases after 454 deaths the previous day.

A total of 24,648 dead and 183,957 illnesses are known, as the civil protection office reports .

Corona virus in Italy: Conte warns of quick loosening

Update of April 21, 1:55 pm : In Italy, people suffer from the lockdown. But the Italian head of government Giuseppe Conte warns. "To reopen now would be irresponsible," said the Prime Minister on Facebook.

Even if many citizens are tired and would like the measures to be significantly relaxed. Conte announces a “Phase 2” plan. According to him, details will be explained at the end of the week. The plan is expected to be implemented on May 4 . In his opinion, everything else would be much too early to start all activities again. The contagion curve would skyrocket uncontrollably and would destroy all previous efforts.

 Courage and perseverance is required. With a short message, the British Fire Brigades Union is now demonstrating solidarity and closeness to the Italians and singing in a video "Bella ciao".

In the words of 'Bella Ciao' we send a heartfelt message of solidarity to firefighters and workers in Italy - and across the world. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/5WJLnZ99Jm

New clinical pictures: So far, dry cough and fever have been the main symptoms of coronavirus. Doctors around the world have now become aware of other characteristics - which occur particularly in younger patients.

Corona virus: hope in Italy for the first time 

Update of April 20, 7:55 p.m .:  The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Italy has decreased for the first time. On Monday (April 20), the number of infected people, according to the civil protection authority in Rome, was 108,237 people who tested positive. The day before there had been 20 more infections. "It is the first time that there has been a positive development ," said civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli.

Corona virus in Italy: Prime Minister renews calls for corona bonds

Update, 10.06 a.m .: Three days before the EU video summit on Thursday, the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte renewed his call for so-called corona bonds . As Conte told the Süddeutsche Zeitung , "all the firepower of the European Union is needed now, through the issue of joint bonds". 

Corona crisis in Italy: Conte and Gentiloni call for economic aid from the EU

EU currency commissioner Paolo Gentiloni , in an interview with Spiegel, also called for economic aid of at least another trillion euros . Conte said of the German resistance to the corona bonds: "Not a single euro of the Germans is used to pay Italian debts." Solidarity is "very specific and limited in time". 

Update of April 20, 7.44 a.m .: Italy is still in a state of emergency because of the corona pandemic . According to figures from Johns Hopkins University on Monday morning, the country currently has 178,972 corona infections and 23,660 deaths related to Covid-19. The country is the most affected by the pandemic worldwide, after the United States and Spain. 

Italy even records around 3,000 more deaths than Spain, but according to Johns Hopkins University, Spain has almost 20,000 more corona infections than Italy. A ray of hope: in Italy, 47,055 corona infected people have overcome the infection and have recovered. 

Corona crisis in Italy: lack of childcare is becoming a problem

Update of April 19:  The Italian newspaper La Repubblica writes on Sunday about the lack of childcare in Corona times in Italy and the planned school closings by September :

“It is being considered how production can be restarted. All steps that are necessary for a safe implementation are determined: from a sufficient supply of masks and disinfectants to the possibility of physical removal and safe means of transport. Okay.

It is a pity that an important part of this consideration is missing: the family organization of those who are supposed to go to work with underage children. As if those who are preparing to resume production have in mind a composition of the workforce that consists only or mainly of people with no family commitments. Or only from men who can delegate family organization and childcare to their wives or partners. As if we were still in the 1950s. ”

By the way: You can also read at Merkur.de * how to sew a face mask yourself . Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump wants to meet with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo - previously the two had exchanged views on how to deal with the Corona crisis.

Corona crisis in Italy: coffins in Bergamo are removed

Update, 6:25 p.m .:  Tangible relief in northern Italy's Lombardy region, which was severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic . 

The last coffins were removed from a church in Bergamo, which had in the meantime served as a mortuary. The church is "finally empty," wrote Mayor Giorgio Gori on Twitter .

The chiesa del cimitero di #Bergamo vuota. Final comments. pic.twitter.com/ZwDPf9kig3

He uploaded a photo showing the empty nave. Where previously dozens of coffins were stored, there were only individual bouquets.

According to Mayor Gori , almost 800 people have died in the pandemic in Bergamo since the beginning of March. 

According to official statistics, 272 corona deaths were registered. However, these numbers only include deaths in hospitals, not at home or in assisted living facilities.

Corona crisis in Italy: Serie A presents plans for restart

Update, 5.45 pm: Italy and football are inseparable, the "Calcio", as the Italians call their season in Serie A , is part of the attitude towards life and self-image.

But since March 12, the league has been interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic . According to the ideas of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), the “Calcio” should continue at the end of May and beginning of June, FIGC President Gabriele Gravina explained to the Rai 1 broadcaster . 

Keeps fit in Sweden: Superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan.

© dpa / Henrik Montgomery

First of all, however, a strict health protocol must be observed, which the Association of Ministers of Health Roberto Speranza and Minister of Sports Vincenzo Spadafora had submitted. 

Gravina added that he hoped that all teams could play in their own stadium, even in the particularly affected north.

As the  Corriere dello Sport  reports, there are alternative plans. Namely, to have all twelve remaining match days increased in four cities: in Rome (Stadio Olimpico), Florence, Naples and another city in the south. The north of the Mediterranean country would thus be excluded.

Corona crisis in Italy: support in advertising for Eurobonds

Update of April 18, 5 p.m .: Italy  persistently campaigns with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for so-called corona bonds , ergo, joint debts with the EU partners to cushion the economic consequences of the corona virus pandemic .

Prime Minister of Italy: Giuseppe Conte.

© picture alliance / dpa / Roberto Monaldo.Lapress

In Germany, the Greens and the Left Party have endorsed the community bonds, but the CDU and CSU - and thus the Federal Government - have so far rigorously rejected them. Support for the Italians was now provided by Achim Truger, a German economy. 

"In my view, community debts, from which the particularly affected countries benefit, are necessary," he told Rheinische Post . He warned against urging countries like Italy and Spain to cut budgets on financial problems related to the coronavirus pandemic . That "would be the end of the euro and possibly even the EU," said Truger.

First report of April 18: The corona virus has caused such bad conditions in Italy that in Germany there was a warning about "Italian conditions" when it came to dealing with the crisis. 

Meanwhile one speaks in Italy thanks to better statistics increasingly on the exit from the strict Corona - measures . A new north-south conflict is emerging.

Coronavirus: Italy has the most deaths after the United States

In Italy, the strict exit prohibitions for citizens still apply  until at least May 3 , with school openings not expected before the summer holidays. On Friday, the country announced a record number of people who have recovered from a corona infection. A total of 2,563 people were healthy again within 24 hours. However, 575 people also died.

Lombardy: Corona kills more than in World War II

Since the beginning of the pandemic are in Italy so that 22,745 people from the virus died . This puts the country behind the USA (31,456 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University) in second place in this sad ranking. The region of Lombardy in the north was particularly hard hit . As the Italian daily La Stampa reports, 11,851 civilians died in the region in two months from the virus. That is five times more civilians than there were in Milan during the Second World War between 1940 and 1945. Emergency Commissioner Domenico Arcuri is quoted as experiencing a “great tragedy” that has not yet been defeated.

Coronavirus, Arcuri: “In Lombardia 5 volte i morti civili della seconda guerra mondiale” https://t.co/lZQmwDE2F3

Nevertheless, the first easing of the measures in parts of Italy has already occurred . Bookstores, train station stores, and baby clothing stores reopened on April 16. The prerequisite was compliance with hygiene and clearance standards. The hard-hit provinces of Lombardy, Lazio and Piedmont were also excluded from the easing.

Corona loosening in Italy: South threatens to close borders with North

The Corona crisis also illustrated once again the large regional differences in Italy. The poorer south became increasingly a social powder keg due to the restrictions in force, as many income opportunities no longer exist. This split is now continuing.

The regions of Lombardy and Veneto are now urging a report by the Corriere della sera to relax the measures as quickly as possible . The fear of irreparable damage to the economy prevails here . The south is against it. There are fears here that opening up the regions in the north severely affected by the coronavirus would lead to increased infection in the country's own part. Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania region, warned drastically that he would close the internal Italian borders in this case. He thinks of a "regulation to ban the entry of citizens from these regions," the paper said.

Dealing with the Corona crisis is increasingly dividing the country. The crisis is now increasingly being used for political power struggles.

Markus Söder comments on further easing in Germany and speaks an unsparing truth. The corona pandemic has a significant impact on the number of deaths in Europe - this is proven by a study on over-mortality. 

rjs / mlp / pm with Materila from dpa and from AFP

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List of rubric lists: © dpa / Mauro Scrobogna