:strip_icc()/s03.video.glbimg.com/x720/8949998.jpg)
[ad_1]
Italy registered 11,705 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, According to the Ministry of Health, it is the highest daily count of diagnoses since the outbreak began in the country.
It is also the fourth consecutive day that the record is broken, since 10,925 new infections were registered on Saturday, 10,010 on Friday and 8,804 on Thursday.
There was also an increase in the number of deaths: 69, against 47 announced on Saturday, 55 on Friday and 83 on Thursday. The number is much lower than those recorded at the height of the pandemic in Italy (March and April), when a daily peak of more than 900 deaths was reached.
Switzerland, a neighboring country, also saw an increase in cases. Due to this, the government imposed the use of mandatory mask as of this Monday (19) in closed public places. “This week, the number of cases has doubled and the increase is now exponential,” said Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga, to justify the seriousness of the situation.
Italy was the first country in Europe to be hit by COVID-19 and it has the second highest death toll on the continent after Great Britain: 36,543 deaths, according to official data.
The Italian government imposed new restrictions on gatherings, restaurants, sports and school activities on Tuesday (13) in an attempt to curb the rise in infections.
People with masks walk through the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, Italy, on Saturday (17) – Photo: Miguel Medina / AFP
However, some experts said the measures were very limited and some local leaders have already announced more aggressive actions for their regions.
On Thursday, the Campania region, where the city of Naples is located, in the south of the country, ordered that all of their schools closed for two weeks. The next day, regional leader Vincenzo De Luca said he would impose a curfew on the night of October 31 to prevent the virus from spreading to “stupid” Halloween parties, in his words.
The chief of Lombardy, in the north, Italy’s hardest-hit region, said on Friday he would review the opening hours of bars and restaurants and close gaming centers and bingo halls. He also asked universities to return to distance education.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte ruled out the reintroduction of a national blockade.
