Coronavirus: Italy faces ‘greatest challenge since World War 1: PM

Italy is shutting down all non-essential businesses in a bid to stem the spiralling number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

A convoy of Italian Army trucks carrying the bodies of coronavirus victims arrives at Ferrara cemetery from Bergamo. Picture: AP

The Italian government is shutting down all non-essential businesses in a bid to stem the spiralling number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

Speaking of the “greatest challenge since World War II”, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said among other things, supermarkets, banks, post offices and pharmacies would remain open.

Italy reported 793 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday with the outbreak showing no signs of abating despite ever stricter curfews being enforced nationwide. The Civil Protection Authority in Rome said 4825 people had died, an increase of 793 compared with the day before, making it the highest Italian daily fatality figure since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of infections rose by more than 4800 to 53,578. Italy is the country with the most officially reported deaths due to the coronavirus in the world.

As the death toll in Britain rose by 96 to 233 and confirmed cases to 5067, up to 1.5 million vulnerable people, identified as being most at risk from the pandemic, were advised by government on Sunday to stay at home for at least 12 weeks.

Those with underlying health conditions such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, or who have had an organ transplant, have been advised by health officials to do all they can to shield themselves from the virus, including confining themselves at home for a long period. “People should stay at home, protect our NHS and save lives,” Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said.

Millions of British workers facing layoffs will have their wages paid by the government for at least three months in the latest multi-billion-pound injection to stop the economy from collapsing.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak told companies the state would pay 80 per cent of wages up to £2500 ($5027) a month for workers who would otherwise have been made redundant. As well as the “unlimited” wage-support scheme, Mr Sunak put another £7bn into the welfare system. The Resolution Foundation think tank estimated that paying the wages of an estimated one million employees for three months would cost the Treasury £4.2bn. The think tank estimates that as many as seven million workers will be “profoundly and swiftly affected by the current economic shock”.

At the request of Italy, Russia will send protective equipment, mobile supply stations and the means to disinfect areas and vehicles on a large scale, the Kremlin said late on Saturday after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the telephone with Mr Conte.

The defence ministry in Moscow announced that eight mobile brigades with virologists and doctors would be transferred to Italy on Sunday. The northern region of Lombardy has been particularly affected by the outbreak, which began last month. The government on Friday therefore tightened curfews, which have been in force nationwide since March 10.

In the hard-hit north, military vans are having to transport coffins from Bergamo to other Italian cities as the city has long run out of space for the many COVID-19 dead. About 70 coffins were taken away overnight so that the dead could be cremated in another province, the Ansa news agency reported on Saturday. On Friday alone, almost 90 people died in Bergamo. More than 5100 people are infected there, and experts believe that there is a high number of unreported cases.

“We hope that we will soon see light at the end of the tunnel, but so far, we do not see it,” said Mayor Giorgio Gori.

Strict curfews and other measures have not yet had their effect in curbing the spread of the virus.

The number of deaths in Italy is high compared with the number of officially reported infections. The exact cause of this is unclear, but Italy has one of the oldest populations in the world — and most of the dead were elderly people suffering from other illnesses. They also might get infected easier as many grandparents live in same houses as their children and grandchildren or are more involved their daily lives than in other European countries such as Germany.

Experts also assume that the number of unrecorded infections is much higher than indicated, and many mild or asymptomatic cases are not recorded. This results in a higher mortality rate than, for example, in China or Germany.

DPA, The Times