Coronavirus: Italy records 800 new deaths and almost 5,000 infections in 24 hours

Italy has registered 793 new deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday, according to figures released by civil protection head Angelo Borrelli on Saturday.

The number of deaths in Italy now stands at 4,825, making it the epicentre of infection in Europe and with more deaths than China, where Covid-19 started.

The Italian civil protection said 4,821 new infections were recorded by Saturday 6pm, putting the total of infections in Italy since the start of the crisis at 53,578. Just over 6,000 have fully recovered from the infection.

The Lombardy region remains the worst hit with an exponential increase of 546 in one day.

Italy’s health services are overstretched with the country opening its doors to 52 Cuban doctors who have been dispatched to help in a hospital in Cremona.

The rapid increase in numbers signals that people are still flouting the restrictive measures introduced by the Italian government to limit the circulation of people.

“These numbers show that we have not yet taken the dangers posed by this virus seriously… There are still people who, with the excuse of taking a stroll end up meeting others. These escapades damage us and our dearest and the more fragile among us,” Silvio Brusaferro, director of the health institute was quoted telling La Repubblica.

The Colosseum in Rome empty of people but health authorities warn that too many people are ignoring restrictive measures to stay indoors, causing the number of infections to spike

Unless Italians respect the strict lockdown measures, the country will not be able to slow down the spread of Covid-19, he warned.

Spain is the second worst-hit country in Europe with 24,926 infections and 1,351 deaths.

Global infections with the coronavirus are fast approaching 300,000, including almost 12,000 deaths.

In Malta, nine new cases were registered on Saturday bringing the total number of infections to 73.

Two patients have fully recovered and the rest are doing well, apart from an elderly man who had to be transferred to hospital’s intensive therapy unit.

Malta has, so far, recorded no deaths.