Rome: Italy maintained a declining trend in active COVID-19 infections and intensive care cases, one day after it eased the national lockdown, according to the latest numbers released by the Civil Protection Department.
Health authorities registered 98,467 active infections on May 5, down from 99,980 a day earlier, continuing the trend since April 20, when the country reported a drop in total active infections for the first time, Xinhua news agency reported.
As 236 new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, the pandemic has claimed 29,315 lives since the first outbreak was recorded in the northern Lombardy region.
Of those infected, 1,427 are in intensive care, down by 52 compared to May 4, and 16,270 are hospitalized in normal wards, down by 553. The rest, or 82 per cent of those who tested positive, are in isolation at home.
The total number of COVID-19 infections, fatalities and recoveries since the pandemic began has risen to 213,013.
Italy entered into a national lockdown on March 10 to contain the pandemic. The lockdown was partly lifted as the country entered into the so-called “Phase Two,” involving the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte commented on the end of the lockdown in an interview with Affari Italiani (Italian Affairs), which he posted on Facebook.
Conte also commented that in spite of its initial disregard for Italy’s plight as the first European country stricken by the pandemic, “the European Union has shown it has understood the mistakes of the past.”
With regards to US President Donald Trump’s blaming of China for the virus, Conte said that “right now we think the priority is to foster international cooperation as much as possible as an essential tool in order to defeat the virus and safeguard global health.”
