As Italy continues to bury its dead with 575 new cases on Friday April 17, for a total of nearly 23,000 deaths, optimism is reborn in the European country with the most Covid-19 cases. 

"The number of deaths is going to drop," said Italian civil defense boss Angelo Borrelli, confident. The latter announced the healing of more than 2,500 patients in one day: a record since the start of the crisis.

"On April 3, we had 4,068 patients in intensive care, today just over 2,800", an unpublished figure since March 20, said Franco Locatelli, from the Superior Council of Health. According to him, "the pressure on hospital facilities has been clearly eased".

Another encouraging sign is the stabilization of the number of patients identified: just under 107,000, only 355 more than the previous day. In several regions, such as Naples, Bologna, Venice, Florence or Rome, this figure is falling.

And out of more than 65,000 tests in one day (another record), only 5% were positive, an additional indicator "of the effectiveness of the containment measures taken to contain the contagion", according to Franco Locatelli.

"All of this makes us aware of the great work accomplished in hospitals and the collaboration of citizens," said Angelo Borrelli.

Improvement in the South

Health officials are now confident that they have prevented the coronavirus from spreading to the south, which was a major concern due to the fragile health infrastructure in these poor regions.

"Having succeeded in (y) preventing the spread of the contagion" is "now a fact solidly supported by the figures", welcomed Franco Locatelli. "Thirteen regions have less than two digits of death", "two have no fatalities."

In its fight against a possible increase in contagion, Italy has chosen a contact tracking application, "Immuni", which will be installed on phones on a voluntary basis. Lombardy will launch blood tests on April 21.

The perspective of deconfinement

If the good figures are confirmed, "we must prepare to reopen on May 4," said Atilio Fontana, the governor of this region, the most affected (nearly 12,000 dead).

In force since March 9, strict containment measures are in effect until May 3. But Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is under pressure from the business community to quickly restart the third European economy. This week, the least affected regions were allowed a timid return to normalcy by reopening some non-essential businesses.

Covid-19 pandemic: in Italy, some businesses have reopened

"Something has to change in the next two weeks for children! Our children have the right to play!", Family Minister Elena Bonetti said this week.

Warning against premature easing of restrictions

The governor of the region of Naples in the south, Vicenzo De Luca, warned of any premature easing of the restrictions imposed on 60 million Italians, and warned that he was ready to "prohibit entry" to residents from the North.

As a sign that the battle is not won, the ballet of military convoys continued on Friday, with 30 bodies sent to Novara from Bergamo, a martyr city whose funeral services cannot keep pace with the deaths.

Stating that the data he collected in 1,689 municipalities did not allow drawing national conclusions, the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) noted an excess mortality of 20% between March 1 and April 4 compared to 2015 -2019.

In some northern municipalities, the figures are impressive: almost five times more deaths in Bergamo (+382.8%), four times in Piacenza (309%), more than three times in Lodi (+261.5%) and Brescia (+ 203%) ...

More than 10% of those infected in Italy belong to medical personnel. Two-thirds are women, according to the Higher Institute of Health (ISS).

With AFP

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